NORTHERN IRELAND

Conditions of Employment

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people in her Department are employed on zero hours contracts.

Michael Penning: No one in my Department is employed on zero hour contracts.

Electoral Register

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what consideration she has given to a change in the electoral law to provide for an automatic annual canvass of registration.

Michael Penning: I wrote to the Northern Ireland parties in February this year to consult them on the Government's proposals for changes to electoral registration in Northern Ireland following the Electoral Commission's November 2012 report on the register.
	As I set out in that letter, the Government do not believe that an annual canvass would be cost effective, relative to other registration activity. The reintroduction of an annual canvass would lead to an increase in the Northern Ireland Office budget of around 7% a year, as well as a corresponding increase to the costs of registration activity to local authorities in Northern Ireland.
	The Government do however feel that it would be appropriate to hold a full canvass during 2013 to ensure that as many people as possible are registered accurately before elections in 2014.

ICT

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many (a) computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) BlackBerrys and (d) other pieces of IT equipment were lost or stolen from non-departmental bodies in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if she will make a statement.

Michael Penning: My Department has two Executive non-departmental public bodies—the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission and the Parades Commission for Northern Ireland; and one advisory non-departmental public body—the Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland. As such bodies are independent of Government, the hon. Member may wish to write to the Commissions directly on these matters—contact details are set out in the following table:
	
		
			 ALB Status Contact details 
			 Parades Commission for Northern Ireland Executive NDPB Info@paradescommission.org 
			 Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Executive NDPB information@nihrc.org 
		
	
	
		
			 Boundary Commission for Northern Ireland Advisory NDPB bcni@belfast.org.uk

TREASURY

Bank Cards: Fees and Charges

Bob Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the potential effects on the UK economy of the EU Commission's proposals to harmonise interchange rates across the EU;
	(2)  what response his Department has made to the EU Commission's proposals to harmonise interchange fees across the EU.

Sajid Javid: The European Commission is expected to publish a legislative proposal by summer 2013 to regulate multilateral interchange fees on card payments. The proposal will be accompanied by an impact assessment.
	The Government will make their own assessment of the legislative proposal once it is published.

Banks: Loans

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what consideration he has given to removing the state underwriting of loans to UK banks.

Sajid Javid: The National Loan Guarantee Scheme (NLGS) is the only government scheme that provides government-guarantees on funding to UK banks. The scheme was launched to help businesses access cheaper finance by reducing the cost of bank funding.
	In the light of the Funding for Lending Scheme (FLS), banks who were offering NLGS loans will now, instead, deliver credit easing to the whole economy through the FLS. However the NLGS remains available to banks if they wish to use it in the future or if market conditions change.

Bingo

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he last met representatives of the bingo industry.

Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.
	The Treasury publishes a list of ministerial meetings with external organisations, available at:
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/minister_hospitality.htm

Debt Collection

David Morris: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he is taking to ensure that debt collection companies do not attempt to collect statute bound debts.

Jo Swinson: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) has published guidance for businesses engaged in the recovery of consumer credit debts and what it considers to be improper business practices. The OFT accepts that it can be reasonable, in England and Wales, to ask for repayment of a statute barred debt on the basis that the debt still exists, but is no longer enforceable through the courts.
	However the OFT considers that the following practices may be unfair:
	Misleading the debtor as to their rights and obligations (i.e. threatening legal action when it is known, or ought to be known, that the relevant limitation period has expired)
	Pursuing the debt under circumstances in which the debtor has heard nothing from the creditor during the relevant limitation period
	Continuing to press a debtor for payment after he has stated that he will not be paying because the debt is statute barred
	In Scotland: any attempt to recover a debt that is known to be, or ought to be known to be, extinguished
	The OFT would expect creditors to alert prospective debt purchasers to the fact that a debt is statute barred. Failure to have regard to the OFT guidance on statute barred debt will call into question a licensee's fitness to hold a consumer credit licence and may prompt regulatory action.

ICT

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many (a) computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) BlackBerrys and (d) other pieces of IT equipment were lost or stolen from his Department in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Sajid Javid: The following computers, mobile telephones, BlackBerrys and other pieces of IT equipment have been lost or stolen from the Department in the financial year 2010-11, 2011-12 and 2012-13:
	
		
			 2010-11 
			 Items lost or stolen from the Department Recovered 
			 12 laptop computers 4 
			 1 mobile phone 0 
			 10 BlackBerrys 2 
			 11 other pieces of IT equipment 0 
		
	
	
		
			 2011-12 
			 Items lost or stolen from the Department Recovered 
			 8 laptop computers 5 
			 0 mobile phones n/a 
			 17 BlackBerrys 2 
			 29 other pieces of IT equipment 3 
		
	
	
		
			 2012-13 
			 Items lost or stolen from the Department Recovered 
			 8 laptop computers 2 
			 0 mobile phones n/a 
			 11 BlackBerrys 0 
			 34 other pieces of IT equipment 0 
		
	
	All the laptop computers involved in these incidents were encrypted devices that are not accessible without a security token and more than one password. The BlackBerrys are also password protected.
	No tokens or passwords were left with these items, and so there was no data loss, and steps were taken, as soon as the theft of these electronic items were reported, to ensure that they provided no means of access to any of the Department’s IT systems.

Members: Correspondence

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he plans to reply to the letter to him of 13 March 2013 from the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South and the follow up letter sent by the hon. Member on 25 April 2013.

David Gauke: I have replied to the hon. Member.

Mobile Phones

Pamela Nash: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer which company holds the largest contract to provide mobile telephony services to HM Revenue and Customs; how much was paid under this contract in the last year for which figures are available; how many individual services are covered by the contract; when the contract was awarded; and when the contract will next be renewed.

David Gauke: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 22 April 2013, Official Report, column 674W.

Mortgages: Government Assistance

John Healey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether older people without a mortgage can qualify for the equity loan scheme that is part of the Help to Buy initiative.

Mark Prisk: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Communities and Local Government.
	This Government believe that housing and planning polices should reflect the wide range of circumstances and lifestyle choices relevant to older people today.
	All applicants for the Help to Buy equity loan scheme must take out a mortgage. This requirement is in place as the Homes and Communities Agency, which is delivering the programme on our behalf, is unable to act as a first charge lender.
	I appreciate this may mean that some older purchasers may not be able to access the scheme. However, we have made provisions for older people to access home ownership through the Older People Shared Ownership scheme.
	This scheme enables older people to purchase between a 25-75% share of a purpose built property from a registered provider on shared ownership terms. We recognise that the household income for many older people is unlikely to rise significantly, therefore any purchaser who has purchased a maximum 75% share will not have to pay any rent on the unowned equity.
	We have also introduced measures to stimulate the development of more specialist housing options for older people. The Government have set up a new care and support housing fund, which will provide £300 million of capital funding to encourage providers to develop new specialist accommodation options for older and disabled people.

Mutual Societies

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what steps he plans to take to incentivise the creation of mutual financial institutions.

Sajid Javid: The Government are strongly supportive of mutuals, and promoting diversity within financial services. The Department for Work and Pensions is currently running a project to modernise and develop the credit union sector, with the anticipation that it will be able to serve 1 million more people by 2019. Alongside this, HM Treasury has recently closed a consultation on whether to raise the maximum interest rate cap for credit unions from 2% to 3% per calendar month to enable credit unions to become sustainable. A response to this consultation will be issued shortly.
	The Government also published a consultation on the ‘Future of Building Societies’, earlier this year. The Government's intention is to ensure that building societies can continue to compete on a level playing field with banks, while retaining their distinctive low-risk business model.

Pay

Michael Meacher: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average was of (a) basic pay, (b) bonuses, (c) share incentive scheme payouts, (d) stock options and (e) other remuneration of the top (i) 1 per cent and (ii) 0.1 per cent of earners in each of the last five years.

Nick Hurd: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Cabinet Office.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson dated May 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking what the average was of (a) basic pay, (b) bonuses, (c) share incentive scheme payouts, (d) stock options and (e) other remuneration of the top (i) 1 per cent and (ii) 0.1 per cent of earners in each of the last five years. (155896)
	Average levels of earnings are estimated from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE), and are provided for all employees on adult rates of pay whose pay for the survey period was not affected by absence. The ASHE, carried out in April each year, is the most comprehensive source of earnings information in the United Kingdom. ASHE data can be used to estimate average levels of basic pay, but suitable data are not available from which to estimate average levels of bonuses, share incentive scheme payouts, stock options or other remuneration.
	ONS is in the process of producing the estimates of average basic pay for the highest-earning 1 per cent and 0.1 per cent of employees for each year from 2008 to 2012. The honourable member will be contacted directly with the answer, as soon as it is available, and a copy of the letter placed in the Library of the House of Commons.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department;
	(2)  what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended;
	(3)  if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were.

Sajid Javid: The introduction of new regulation by the Treasury is monitored through the six monthly Statement of New Regulation, when the regulation is in scope of one in two out. Since January 2013 the Statement of New Regulation has also included regulation which originates in the EU. Information on costs is recorded in Impact Assessments where there is a significant impact on business.
	New regulation with an impact on business is subject to a review clause, and a review of this regulation will be required by a date specified in each piece of legislation.
	The Treasury responds to any requests for regulation to be revoked or amended on a case by case basis.
	A table which provides a list of all Treasury regulation introduced since May 2010, whether it was subject to the one-in, one-out or one-in, two-out rules will be placed in the Library of the House. Web links are provided to pages which explain what legislation the regulation amends or revokes and what the cost and benefits of the regulation are. It should be noted that the one-in, one-out rule began operating in January 2011, and was replaced by the one-in, two-out rule in January 2013.

Revenue and Customs: Northern Ireland

Lady Hermon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people from Northern Ireland called HM Revenue and Customs in each of the last three years; and what the average waiting time was of such calls in each such year.

David Gauke: I would refer the hon. Lady to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for Barnsley Central (Dan Jarvis) on 22 April 2013, Official Report, column 678W.
	HMRC periodically publishes its performance statistics at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/about/bus-plan-qds.htm
	and now at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/business-plan-indicators

Scottish Affairs Select Committee

Stewart Hosie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer in respect of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury's appearance at the Scottish Affairs Committee on 15 May 2013, (a) on what date his Office first received the invitation to appear at this session and (b) on what date his Office accepted the invitation to appear at this session.

Danny Alexander: I received the invitation to appear at the 15 May meeting of the Scottish Affairs Committee on 18 April and HM Treasury accepted the invitation on 10 May.
	In addition, on the same day I was required to be in London to respond on behalf of the Government to the Queen’s Speech debate in the House of Commons.

Social Security Benefits: East Renfrewshire

Jim Murphy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people in East Renfrewshire constituency were in receipt of (a) child benefit, (b) working families tax credits, (c) incapacity benefit, (d) disability living allowance and (e) income support in May (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013.

David Gauke: The information is as follows:
	(a) Information on the number of families benefiting from child benefit by parliamentary constituency is available in table 6 of the HMRC publication “Child Benefit—Geographical Statistics” for August of 2010, 2011 and 2012 at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/child-geog-stats.htm
	This information is not yet available for 2013.
	(b) Working family tax credit was abolished in March 2003 and replaced by child tax credits (CTC) and working tax credits (WTC).
	Information on the number of families benefiting from CTC and WTC is available for April and December of 2010, 2011, 2012 and April 2013. Statistics by parliamentary constituency are published in table 4 of the HMRC snapshot publication “Personal Tax Credits: Provisional Statistics—Geographical Statistics” at:
	www.hmrc.gov.uk/statistics/prov-geog-stats.htm
	(c) Information on the number of people in receipt of incapacity benefit in East Renfrewshire constituency, for May 2010, May 2011 and May 2012 is available at:
	http://83.244.183.180/100pc/ibsda/tabtool_ibsda.html
	(d) Information on the number of people in receipt of disability living allowance in East Renfrewshire constituency, for May 2010, May 2011 and May 2012 is available at:
	http://83.244.183.180/100pc/dla/tabtool_dla.html
	(e) Information on the number of people in receipt of income support in East Renfrewshire constituency, for May 2010, May 2011 and May 2012 is available at:
	http://83.244.183.180/100pc/is/tabtool_is.html
	With respect to parts (c) to (e):
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf
	Information for May 2013 is not yet available.

Social Security Benefits: Foreign Nationals

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many people HM Revenue and Customs has stopped paying benefits to for having no right to be in the country for each of the past five years; and what the total amount of benefits claimed by these people was for each of the past five years.

David Gauke: The information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Tax Avoidance

Paul Flynn: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent representations he has received from Google, Amazon and Facebook in respect of plans to take forward new measures to increase financial transparency.

David Gauke: Treasury Ministers regularly meet with businesses and their representatives to discuss a wide range of issues. As has been the case with successive administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of such meetings.

Taxation: Bingo

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport on taxation of bingo.

Sajid Javid: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors as part of the process of policy development and delivery.

Taxation: Gambling

Ian Austin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rate of gross profit tax levied on (a) bingo clubs, (b) online bingo and (c) bookmakers is; and what the reasons are for differences in the rates.

Graeme Morrice: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the rate of gross profit tax levied on (a) bingo clubs, (b) online bingo and (c) bookmakers is; and what the reasons are for differences in the rates.

Sajid Javid: The rates of general betting duty, bingo duty and remote gaming duty were all set by the previous Government. Bingo duty applies to terrestrial bingo and is charged at 20% of gross profits. Remote gaming duty applies to bingo played online and is currently charged at 15% of gross profits, and general betting duty is charged at 15% of gross profits. At Budget 2013 the Government left rates unchanged.
	All gambling taxes, including bingo duty, are kept under review by the Government.

SCOTLAND

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office does not take forward regulations. The Scotland Office is responsible for delivering a programme of Orders under the Scotland Act 1998, which are outwith the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and are primarily made in consequence to provisions made in Acts of the Scottish Parliament.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended.

David Mundell: The Scotland Office has not taken forward any regulations subject to the one in one out or the one in two out procedure.
	Each year, the Scotland Office takes forward a programme of Orders under the Scotland Act 1998. Generally, Scotland Act Orders make changes to the law in England and Wales, Northern Ireland or the reserved law of the UK which are outwith the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and many of these changes are consequential to provisions made in Acts of the Scottish Parliament.
	In addition to the Scotland Act Orders programme, the Scotland Office has introduced Orders to commence the provisions of the Scotland Act 2012, which implemented recommendations from the cross party commission on devolution in Scotland (the Calman Commission).
	The Orders under these Acts do not in themselves introduce regulations.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were.

David Mundell: Each year, the Scotland Office takes forward a programme of Orders under the Scotland Act 1998. Generally, Scotland Act Orders make changes to the law in England and Wales, Northern Ireland or the reserved law of the UK which are outwith the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament and many of these changes are consequential to provisions made in Acts of the Scottish Parliament.
	In addition to the Scotland Act Orders programme, the Scotland Office has introduced Orders to commence the provisions of the Scotland Act 2012, which implemented recommendations from the cross party commission on devolution in Scotland (the Calman Commission).
	The Orders do not in themselves introduce regulations and there were no implementation costs associated with these Orders.

BUSINESS, INNOVATION AND SKILLS

Apprentices: Farriers

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 15 May 2013, Official Report, column 257W, on apprentices, what steps he is taking to ensure that people with an offer of an apprenticeship provided through the National Farrier Training Agency that was due to begin in autumn 2013 can start their farriery apprenticeship this year.

Matthew Hancock: Provision at the National Farrier Training Agency has been suspended as a consequence of Ofsted's judgment that this was inadequate.
	I have asked the Skills Funding Agency to follow its intervention policy to deal to the issues raised by Ofsted. In addition, the agency is working closely with the Farrier's Registration Council and the National Farrier Training Agency to put in place an alternative model of delivery that addresses the immediate concerns raised by Ofsted, and will allow apprentices to start in autumn 2013.
	Senior staff from the agency are meeting with the Chair of the Farrier's Registration Council to explore this model in the next few days.

Climate Change

Graham Stringer: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills pursuant to the answer of 14 May 2013, Official Report, column 128W, on climate change, what the likelihood of the cited statistical model is relative to a driftless autoregressive integrated model.

Michael Fallon: The Met Office has not made a comparison between the cited statistical model and a driftless autoregressive integrated model because the two are designed for different purposes. The cited model is constructed to make error estimates in observations of near-surface temperature, while the other seeks to emulate the evolution of a data time series: in this case instrumental records of global average near-surface temperature anomalies.

Employment: Mental Illness

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what measures are in place to ensure that people suffering from mental health issues in the workplace are encouraged to seek treatment;
	(2)  what estimate he has made of the annual cost to businesses of mental illness in their workforces.

Daniel Poulter: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department of Health.
	The Department of Health's Public Health Responsibility Deal Health at Work Network aims to improve public health throughout the workplace. It includes a pledge for employers to make reasonable workplace adjustments to ensure that people with mental health conditions can continue to work effectively.
	Through the NHS outcomes framework, we will hold NHS services to account for their role in helping people with mental health problems to stay in employment.
	The Mental Health Strategy's Implementation Framework sets out what employers and employment support organisations can do to help people with mental illness find and stay in employment. This includes:
	assessing the impact of mental health problems on their work force, what this means for their business and taking action accordingly;
	joining the Mindful Employer scheme to help increase awareness of mental health in the workplace;
	signing up to the Time to Change campaign to raise the profile of mental health and address stigma; and
	joining the Responsibility Deal Health at Work Network.
	A policy paper published by the Centre for Mental Health in 2007 estimated that the total cost to employers of mental health problems among their staff was nearly £26 billion a year in 2007.

Groceries Code Adjudicator

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what the timescale is for introducing the supermarket adjudicator; and if he will make a statement.

Jo Swinson: The Groceries Code Adjudicator Act gained Royal Assent on 25 April 2013.
	In common with standard legal convention, the Act will come into force two months from the date of Royal Assent. The Adjudicator's office will issue a consultation on the exercise of her powers shortly thereafter. Her investigatory powers will come into force after the final version of her guidance has been agreed and published.

Higher Education: Standards

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he plans to take to address low student satisfaction rates in UK universities.

David Willetts: The Government's higher education reforms are designed to make universities more responsive to students' needs, to increase student choice and to improve information to students so they are able to choose a course and institution that best suits their needs and expectations. Universities that provide a better student experience will attract more students and be able to expand where they choose to do so.
	The Government-supported National Study Survey (NSS) publishes the ratings of final year undergraduates across the UK. All English universities participate in the survey and the overall response rate is 67% (287,000 students in 2012). The 2012 survey showed that, nationally, 84% of English students were satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of teaching and learning on their course, although there is a lower score for assessment and feedback of 71% in 2012.
	However there is no room for complacency, satisfaction rates can vary significantly between institutions and even within institutions in different subjects. We are encouraging universities to use NSS results and other sources of feedback from students to identify where they need to make improvements—to meet the challenge from Government and students to focus on improving the academic experience they offer.
	In addition, by introducing the new Key Information Set, we have made it easier for university applicants to access the latest NSS results alongside a range of other information for their subject area, to help inform their decision making. This is available via each university course page and the revised Unistats national comparison website:
	http://unistats.direct.gov.uk/

Higher Education: Standards

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will investigate the variations in teaching hours between undergraduate courses in UK universities.

David Willetts: Universities have to provide more information to students and prospective students than ever before. The Key Information Set provides 17 pieces of information on student satisfaction rates, employment outcomes, fees and accommodation costs. We wish to see universities supplement this with a wider range of clear information on, for example, contact hours, class sizes and who will provide the teaching. The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) is leading a multi-agency project (including the NUS) to provide additional guidance to higher education providers and students on these three areas, together with the use of student feedback.
	We are also making it easier for students to hold their institutions to account for delivering a high-quality student experience. QAA now includes student representatives in all its review teams, and each review will take account of evidence from the institution's students in writing and/or through meetings. The Office of the Independent Adjudicator/OIA takes up and reviews student complaints where they cannot be resolved through institutions' own complaints procedures.

Innovation: Gender

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what plan his Department has to consider the European Commission report, She Figures 2012 on gender in research and innovation;
	(2)  what plans his Department has to respond to the European Commission report, She Figures 2012 in respect of England.

David Willetts: The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) welcomes the European Commission's report on gender research and innovation, which highlights the continuing under-representation of women in both the public and private research sectors. Although BIS has not been asked formally by the Commission to respond to the report, we will consider how best to make use of the data in developing the Department's policies in support of this issue.
	The STEM work force is vital to growth and the economy and our research base misses out when we are not drawing scientists from as wide a talent pool as possible. BIS is funding the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society to jointly run a STEM Diversity Programme to identify and remove barriers to joining STEM work force; improve retention and progression rates for people once they join the work force and widen the scope of diversity work from a previous focus on gender issues only, to cover all minority or disadvantaged groups.
	Also in January this year, Research Councils UK (RCUK) set out the expectation that equality and diversity should be embedded at all levels and in all aspects of normal research practice. RCUK expects those in receipt of Research Council funding to provide evidence of ways in which equality and diversity issues are managed at both an institutional and departmental level. This will provide an incentive to universities to improve the impact of their diversity and equality policies, ensuring the work force reflects society, and makes best use of all the talents available to it.

Medicine: Education

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  how many (a) male and (b) female medically qualified academic staff are employed by universities in England and the UK;
	(2)  how many (a) male and (b) female medically qualified academic staff employed by universities in England and the UK also have an honorary contract with the NHS.

David Willetts: The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) collects and publishes data on staff at UK higher education institutions (HEIs).
	The HESA Staff Record provides data in respect of the characteristics of members of all academic and non-academic staff employed under a contract of employment at a reporting HEI in the UK. Staff employed under consultancy contracts, or on the basis of payment of fees for services without a contract of employment, are not included in the record.
	The Staff Record shows the number of staff for whom medicine and dentistry has been designated as the subject discipline appropriate to their academic qualification. This is not necessarily the academic subject in which that staff member may currently be teaching or researching.
	
		
			 Academic staff with qualifications recorded against medicine and dentistry JACS groupings(1, 2 )and those with NHS contracts, English and UK higher education institutions(3,) academic year 2011/12 
			 Number 
			  English HEIs UK HEIs 
			  Female Male Total Female Male Total 
			 Total staff with a medicine and dentistry HE qualification 2,445 3,545 5,995 2,960 4,285 7,250 
			 Of which with a NHS contract:       
			 HEI contract and NHS honorary contract 1,020 2,165 3,180 1,280 2,610 3,890 
			 Separate HEI and NHS contracts (e.g. A + B contracts) 60 95 150 65 110 180 
			 Joint HEI/NHS or primary/community health care contracts 25 75 100 35 125 160 
			 Total 1,100 2,335 3,435 1,380 2,845 4,225 
			 Note: Figures are on a full person equivalent (FPE) basis, and have been rounded up or down to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. (1) Joint Academic Coding System grouping of Medicine and Dentistry. (2) Based on the academic discipline of the member of staff. (3) Excluding the Open university. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency Staff Record.

Money Lenders

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department is taking to tackle loan sharks and illegal money lenders.

Jo Swinson: The Government established the National Trading Standards Board (NTSB) for England and Wales in April 2012, following our consultation on ‘Empowering and Protecting Consumers’. Since its launch, the NTSB has continued to fund the delivery of Illegal Money Lending Teams in England and Wales, which were previously directly funded by BIS. As well as tackling and prosecuting loan sharks, the teams work with community partners to provide access to advice and support for victims. The NTSB reports to BIS on progress on a quarterly basis.
	In 2012/13, the teams either charged or had proceedings instituted against 44 individuals for offences which included illegal money lending. This resulted in 13 custodial sentences. In the same year, £120,000 in cash and an estimated £952,000 in assets were seized from loan sharks. In England over £100,000 of proceeds of crime money was re-invested within local communities to help spread the Stop Loan Sharks message.
	In Scotland, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities launched a month-long Stop Loan Sharks campaign in March 2013. The campaign urged the public to report suspected unlicensed lenders, and was supported through a variety of advertising including on the radio, in buses and on washroom panels.

Pension Funds: Shareholders

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he plans to take to make it easier for small shareholders to question the way in which their pension investments are managed by firms.

Jo Swinson: Individuals often hold shares indirectly through an investment fund as part of a broader investment portfolio, or electronically through a broker or other intermediary.
	In these cases it is usually the fund or intermediary that has the right to attend, speak and vote at company meetings. However, it is possible for the fund or intermediary to nominate another party to exercise voting rights and that can include individual shareholders. Individual shareholders would have to request that their fund or intermediary delegates these rights to them and it is up to the particular fund or intermediary to decide whether to offer this service.
	The Government recently commissioned Professor John Kay to undertake an independent review of investment in UK equity markets. The review looked at the relationships between shareholders, the companies they invest in and the intermediaries and agents in the investment chain. Professor Kay published his final report in July 2012.
	The Government welcomed Professor Kay's report and, in response to one of Professor Kay's specific recommendations, committed to explore the most cost effective means for individuals to hold shares directly on an electronic register. The Government are now working to achieve this objective in the context of current EU policy proposals relating to central securities depositaries and securities law. The Government believe that future arrangements for investors to hold shares electronically should increase shareholder transparency and facilitate shareholders exercising their rights.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will publish a long-term renewable energy strategy to 2050 including (a) the challenges that need to be met between now and 2050, (b) his vision for the future of renewable energy in the UK and strategy to ensure renewables have the best prospect of reaching their full potential, (c) the role of Government, regulators, industry, academia and other interested parties in delivering this strategy and (d) a clear framework against which decisions and priorities for policy and research to underpin the strategy will be taken; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The coalition agreement set out this Government's commitment to supporting the deployment of renewables in the UK. In July 2011 we published our Renewable Energy Roadmap, which set out how we intend to meet the UK’s legally binding target of generating 15% of our energy use from renewable sources by 2020. This was updated in 2012.
	In the Carbon Plan (December 2011), the Department set out four energy pathways that are consistent with its target to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% by 2050. The Carbon Plan is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-carbon-plan-reducing-greenhouse-gas-emissions--2
	The 2050 Calculator model, used to inform the pathways, is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/2050-pathways-analysis
	This model describes the possible role of renewables over the decades, without presupposing any one scenario.

Science: Higher Education

Valerie Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  what assessment his Department has made of the success of steps taken by universities to recruit and retain female staff in clinical and medical STEM subjects;
	(2)  what steps his Department has taken to encourage UK universities to recruit and retain female staff in clinical and medical STEM subjects.

David Willetts: The responsibility for staff equality matters rests with higher education institutions (HEIs), as the employers. In the annual Grant Letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England, the Government encourage the sector to continue to address long standing equality issues, including more diverse representation at senior levels in HEIs.
	Higher education institutions receiving grant funding from the Higher Education Funding Council for England also have to meet the requirements of the public sector equality duty in the Equality Act 2010 and advance equality of opportunity.
	The Athena SWAN Charter recognises and celebrates good employment practice for women working in science, engineering and technology (SET) in higher education and research. Membership is open to any university or research institution committed to the advancement of the careers of women in SET. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) provides some funding for Athena SWAN via the Royal Society as part of our science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) Diversity Programme.
	The Athena SWAN Charter exists to instigate real and continuing change for women and also their male colleagues. HEIs and individual departments have to demonstrate a commitment to improving working practices and also measure the impact these changes are having, and tackle areas where progress has not been as fast. The Charter is run by the Equality Challenge Unit, an independent higher education sector body, which provides higher education institutions with support on all equality matters and works directly with institutions to help them tackle under-representation among staff groups.
	BIS welcomes the announcement in April 2013, that Athena SWAN presented a record 68 awards to individual departments and higher education institutions (HEIs). 24% of submissions were from medical and dental schools and departments, and 29% of awards were to these disciplines. Last year this figure was just 9%. This increase will have been due, in part, to the action taken by the chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies. In July 2011 Dame Sally wrote to the Medical Schools Council, outlining her intention that all medical schools who wish to apply for National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centres and Units funding need to have achieved an Athena SWAN Charter Silver Award.

PRIME MINISTER

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Prime Minister what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by No. 10 Downing Street in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended.

David Cameron: There have been no regulations set by No 10 Downing Street since May 2010. This Government's ‘One-in One-out’ rule has stopped new regulations being added faster than removed. The rule has saved business around £1 billion in regulatory costs since 2011. We have now changed this to a ‘One-in, Two-out’ rule. For every new cost imposed on business by new regulations, we will demand equivalent savings of double that value over the remainder of the Parliament.

HOUSE OF COMMONS COMMISSION

Order Paper

Alan Beith: To ask the hon. Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross, representing the House of Commons Commission, whether any financial savings or additional costs are expected to arise from the redesign of the Commons Order Paper; and if the Commission will make arrangements for the views of hon. Members on the new Order Paper to be ascertained.

John Thurso: No immediate financial savings are expected but in the longer term the redesign will contribute to reducing the amount of hard copy printing, and so to substantial recurring savings. No additional costs will arise.
	The redesign of the Order Paper and Future Business was undertaken in-house. The main aim was to make the Order Paper better suited to electronic publication and distribution. The opportunity was also taken to bring the design up to modern standards for accessibility by the sight disabled. An Order Paper application which allows hon. Members to download the Order Paper to tablet devices has already been developed. An enriched electronic version of the Order Paper, which will include hyperlinks to documents referred to in it, is planned.
	The Administration and Procedure Committees were invited to comment on the redesign ahead of its launch. The feedback received so far has been generally very positive. Modifications have already been made in response to feedback received, such as including Members constituencies alongside their names in notices of oral questions. The Principal Clerk of the Table Office welcomes comments from all users of the Order Paper.

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

Prosecutions

Jason McCartney: To ask the Attorney-General what measures the police and Crown Prosecution Service are taking to reduce the decision time in choosing to bring a prosecution forward.

Oliver Heald: The Police and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are working together to reduce the decision time in choosing to bring a prosecution forward by:
	Improving the arrangements for police officers seeking CPS charging decisions by providing a 24 hours, seven days per week service through CPS Direct, the CPS dedicated charging service: CPS commenced this work on 1 April 2013.
	Amending the Director's Guidance for Charging to allow the police to charge shoplifting offences where a not guilty plea is anticipated. Under these arrangements, the police are responsible for charging approximately 72% of all offences without reference to the CPS.
	Working with other criminal justice system agencies to embed and extend the use of digital working and to extend the range of circumstances in which specified proceedings may be prosecuted by the police. A best practice model has been developed for specified proceedings, which includes:
	encouraging more consistent use and expansion of Fixed Penalty Notices;
	replacing court summons with police postal charging;
	revising information to defendants to prevent unnecessary attendance at court;
	enabling CPS prosecutors to deal with contested cases only.
	Extending specified proceedings in this way will offer a simpler and more proportionate response to these high volume low-level offences. It will increase police discretion and mean the CPS can focus their resources on more serious and contested cases, where their independence and specialist skills add most value.

ELECTORAL COMMISSION COMMITTEE

Electoral Register: Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, with reference to the findings in the report by the Electoral Commission of 27 November 2012, continuous electoral registration in Northern Ireland on the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register in Northern Ireland, if he will provide an estimate of the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register for each Northern Ireland parliamentary constituency.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that its most recent assessment of the completeness and accuracy of electoral registers in Northern Ireland was designed to provide overall estimates for Northern Ireland and for some key demographic groups. It did not estimate completeness and accuracy by parliamentary constituency. It would have been prohibitively expensive to do so reliably due to the size of the sample required.
	The research found overall that rural areas in Northern Ireland had higher rates of both completeness and accuracy than urban areas. It also identified a strong correlation with age and length of residence: individuals in older age groups and those who had been resident at their property for more than one year were more likely to be registered.
	The report is available on the Electoral Commission website:
	www.electoralcommission.org.uk

Electoral Register: Northern Ireland

Gregory Campbell: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission, what initiatives are being considered by the Electoral Commission to reach out to under-registered groups in Northern Ireland.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that one of the recommendations in its report on ‘Continuous Electoral Registration in Northern Ireland’ was there should be household registration activity before the 2014 elections. The Commission also recommended that this activity should be supported by public awareness activity.
	As a result of the report findings, the Chief Electoral Officer for Northern Ireland recommended to the Secretary of State that a full canvass of electors be conducted in autumn 2013.
	To support this canvass the Commission will run a Northern Ireland wide public awareness campaign with the overall aim of maximising the effectiveness of the autumn canvass.
	The public awareness campaign will take place in a number of phases between August and October to encourage everyone eligible to vote to return their canvass forms. It will include advertising on TV, radio, press, outdoor and online. Although the campaign will target everyone eligible to vote in Northern Ireland it will also aim to target those groups identified in the Commission's report as being less likely to be registered. This includes:
	people who have been resident at their property for less than two years;
	people renting from a private landlord or letting agency;
	18 to 34-year-olds; and
	people in the lower socio-economic groups C2, D and E.

CABINET OFFICE

Clubs

Steven Baker: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office what steps he is taking to promote membership of service clubs; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.
	It is not in the Government's remit to recommend membership of private clubs. However, we do recognise and appreciate the important role that service clubs play in supporting the armed forces community.

Job Creation: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Jones: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many private sector jobs were created in Yorkshire and the Humber in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated May 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning the number of private sector jobs created in Yorkshire and The Humber in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. 156505
	The ONS does not directly provide estimates for the number of private sector jobs created, only the net change in the number of people in private sector employment, which in turn, are estimated as the difference between total employment from the Labour Force Survey and data from public sector organisations.
	The table below contains estimates of the number of people in private sector employment in Yorkshire and The Humber at June 2009, June 2010, June 2011 and June 2012 and the net change between these periods.
	On 1 April 2012, English further education colleges and sixth form college corporations were re-classified from the public sector to the private sector. Estimates of their employment are therefore included in the private sector from June 2012 and in the public sector for earlier periods.
	The table below also contains estimates of private sector employment excluding the impact of this reclassification, that is, if English further education colleges and sixth form college corporations in Yorkshire and The Humber had been classified to the private sector throughout.
	
		
			 Private sector employment in Yorkshire and the Humber 
			 Thousand 
			 As at June each year People in employment Net change People in employment including English FE colleges and sixth-form college corporations throughout Net change excluding the impact of the reclassification of English FE colleges and sixth-form college corporations 
			 2009 1,843 — 1,866 — 
			 2010 1,841 -2 1,864 -2 
			 2011 1.886 45 1.909 45 
			 2012 1,892 6 1,892 -17

Population: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of the residents of each parliamentary constituency in Scotland were born in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland.

Nick Hurd: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated May 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many and what proportion of the residents of each parliamentary constituency in Scotland were born in (a) England, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland. 156555
	ONS do not produce any statistics on parliamentary constituencies for Scotland. This Parliamentary Question should be referred to the Ministers in the Scottish Government for answer.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office 
	(1)  what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department;
	(2)  what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended;
	(3)  if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were;
	(4)  if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were;
	(5)  what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended;
	(6)  what processes his Office has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office.

Chloe Smith: The Cabinet Office follows the Better Regulation Executive’s Statement of New Regulation processes and guidance to monitor and collate cost information for regulations introduced by the Department. This is available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reducing-the-impact-of-regulation-on-business/supporting-pages/operating-a-one-in-two-out-rule-for-business-regulation
	The Cabinet Office uses the Red Tape Challenge (RTC) website to review and revoke regulation. RTC is a cross-government platform, hosted and managed by the Cabinet Office, which allows anyone to tell us which regulations are working and which are not; what should be scrapped, what should be saved and what should be simplified. This is available at:
	http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/home/index/
	The one-in, one-out rule was introduced on 1 September 2010 and applied to regulations introduced from 1 January 2011. Since January 2011, information regarding the regulations the Cabinet Office has introduced and those it plans to remove has been published on a six-monthly basis in its Statement of New Regulation (SNR). The statements also show the net direct costs to business. The period January 2011 to May 2013 is covered by the SNRs 1 to 5, which are available on GOV.UK at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reducing-the-impact-of-regulation-on-business/supporting-pages/operating-a-one-in-two-out-rule-for-business-regulation
	One-in, two-out replaced the one-in, one-out rule and has applied to regulations introduced from 1 January 2013.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office how he plans to reflect the number of universal credit recipients in the monthly labour market statistics during the transition from jobseeker's allowance to universal credit.

Nick Hurd: holding answer 20 May 2013
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	Letter from Glen Watson, dated May 2013
	As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how it is planned to reflect the number of universal credit recipients in the monthly labour market statistics during the transition from jobseeker's allowance to universal credit. (156342)
	The Claimant Count is a measure of the number of people claiming benefit principally for the reason of being unemployed. In periods prior to the introduction of Universal Credit (UC) the Claimant Count reflected the number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) or National Insurance Credits. As UC replaces a number of existing means-tested benefits, including the means-tested element of JSA, there will be people claiming benefits principally for the reason of being unemployed both from JSA and a subset of the total range of UC claimants.
	Following a consultation in 2012 by ONS, it was agreed that the Claimant Count would reflect those people who were still receiving JSA, plus the subset of UC claimants who were claiming benefits principally for the reason of being unemployed. This UC element would be defined as those claimants who are not earning and subject to a full set of labour market jobseeker requirements, that is required to be actively seeking work and available to start work in order to qualify for benefits.
	Once the transition to UC has completed, the Claimant Count will consist of those still claiming contributory based JSA, plus the subset of jobseeker UC claimants. However, during the transition it will also include the remaining people claiming means-tested based JSA until those cases are migrated.
	On 29 April 2013, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started a Pathfinder for UC which created the first jobseeker UC claimants. The first Claimant Count after the start of the Pathfinder is the count for May 2013, based on a count date of 9 May, due for publication in the Labour Market Statistical Bulletin on 12 June.
	ONS is working with DWP to include jobseeker UC claimants within the Claimant Count statistics at the earliest opportunity. UC information will be collated and quality assured by statisticians within DWP to ensure they meet the necessary quality standards. Information will then be passed to ONS for inclusion within the regular Claimant Count statistical series.
	It is not anticipated that ONS will receive information on the number of jobseeker UC claimants from DWP in time for inclusion in the May 2013 Claimant Count.
	In the interim period, until DWP are able to provide a quality assured UC series, ONS will add notes to the Claimant Count to indicate that it does not include UC cases. Alongside this ONS will highlight figures relating to the number of JSA cases in local areas affected by the Pathfinder prior to and following the introduction of UC, to help users understand the possible impact of the absence of UC cases from the count. Since the Pathfinder at first covers just one Jobcentre and is limited to a subset of new claimants, the initial impact on the Claimant Count is expected to be very small.
	Once DWP are able to provide a quality assured UC series, ONS intends to include these in the headline Claimant Count series and revise the figures for earlier periods back to May 2013 to reflect the full Claimant Count.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Child: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to Phase Two of the new statutory child maintenance scheme, what procedures his Department will adopt when seeking to broker a return to a child maintenance Direct Pay agreement without contact between the two parties, in cases where a parent with care has declared they were a victim of domestic violence, and the non-resident parent, currently within the statutory collection service, has requested a second chance at paying through a Direct Pay arrangement on the basis that his behaviour has changed.

Steve Webb: Where the application fee is waived because the applicant has declared themselves to be a victim of domestic violence, they will be able to choose the ‘money transfer option’ within Direct Pay. The money transfer option has been designed to provide a safe, anonymous, method for non-resident parents to make payments direct to the parent with care without the latter having to disclose any personal contact details to the former and without the case having to remain in the collection service.

Child: Maintenance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what risk assessments have been carried out by his Department regarding child maintenance cases under Phase Two of the new statutory scheme, where the Child Maintenance Service has waived the intended application fee on grounds of domestic violence, and where the alleged perpetrator asserts the choice to make the maintenance payments due direct to the parent with care who has declared she is a victim of domestic violence by him; and what regard such assessments have to (a) financial abuse and (b) coercive control.

Steve Webb: Where the application fee is waived because the applicant has declared themselves to be a victim of domestic violence, they will be able to choose the ‘money transfer option’ within Direct Pay. The money transfer option has been designed to provide a safe, anonymous, method for non-resident parents to make payments direct to the parent with care without the latter having to disclose any personal contact details to the former and without the case having to move into the collection service.
	The definition of domestic violence for the purposes of the application fee waiver is aligned to the full Home Office definition, and as such will cover any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive behaviour and financial abuse.
	If a paying parent withholds Direct Pay payments in order to control or financially abuse their partner, we will move quickly to enforce the payment of maintenance through the statutory Child Maintenance Service.

Council Tax Benefits

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much each English local authority awarded in council tax benefit in 2011-12.

Mark Hoban: Council tax benefit expenditure for 2011-12 by local authority is in the table entitled Tables showing benefit expenditure by country, region and local authority from 2000-01 to 2011-12 which can be accessed via the following URL:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=expenditure
	Note:
	The breakdown of CTB expenditure is based on a combination of statistical data and local authority subsidy returns. 2011-12 expenditure is currently based on initial subsidy returns (final audited returns will be analysed and published later this summer).

Disability Living Allowance

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance has been issued to local authorities on the treatment of disability living allowance in relation to applications for discretionary housing payments.

Steve Webb: In establishing if the claimant requires further financial assistance, the local authority can decide how to treat any income or expenditure, taking into consideration the purpose of the income, where appropriate.
	In the revised guidance issued in April, we advised that local authorities may decide to disregard income from disability related benefits, as they are intended to be used to help pay for the extra costs of disability and are likely to be committed to other liabilities for which the money was intended, such as Motability schemes or provision of care.

Disposable Income

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many disabled people in (a) each local authority area and (b) constituency live in households with incomes below 60 per cent of contemporary median net disposable household income (i) before and (ii) after housing costs;
	(2)  how many people in each (a) local authority area and (b) constituency live in households with incomes below 60 per cent of contemporary median net disposable household income (i) before and (ii) after housing costs;
	(3)  how many children in each (a) local authority area and (b) constituency live in households with incomes below 60 per cent of contemporary median net disposable household income (i) before and (ii) after housing costs.

Esther McVey: It is not possible to provide figures either by local authority area or by constituency, due to small sample sizes. Figures can only be provided either by region, by country, or for the UK as a whole.
	In 2010-11 across the UK there were 2.3 million disabled individuals living in households with incomes below 60% of contemporary median net disposable household income, before housing costs; and 2.7 million after housing costs.
	In 2010-11 across the UK there were 9.8 million people living in households with incomes below 60% of contemporary median net disposable household income, before housing costs; and 13 million after housing costs.
	In 2010-11 across the UK there were 2.3 million children living in households with incomes below 60% of contemporary median net disposable household income, before housing costs; and 3.6 million after housing costs.
	Figures are rounded to the nearest 100,000. Low income figures are published annually in the Households Below Average Income publication available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=hbai
	The Government launched a consultation on measuring child poverty on 15 November 2012. The consultation sought views on changing the way child poverty is measured to ensure we accurately capture the root causes of poverty. Measuring relative income in isolation is not a helpful way to tackle progress against our commitment to eradicating child poverty. The consultation closed on 15 February 2013. The responses to the consultation are currently being analysed, and the Government’s conclusions will be published in the summer.

Housing Benefit

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what guidance his Department has issued to local authorities on treatment of vulnerable recipients of discretionary housing payments at the end of a six-month award.

Steve Webb: There is no limit to the length of time over which a discretionary housing payment may be made. It may be appropriate for the local authority to make a short-term award to give a claimant time to sort out their financial or housing circumstances, particularly if they are trying to find alternative accommodation or gain employment. A time-limited award may also be appropriate when an impending change of circumstances will result in an increase in benefit.
	Alternatively, the local authority may wish to make an indefinite award until the claimant's circumstances change. The start and end dates of an award are decided by the local authority, on a case by case basis.
	When there is a specific end date to the award, local authorities should make it clear to the claimant what the period of the award is and how to re-apply, if necessary.

Housing Benefit

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps he is taking to ensure tenants in the social rented sector do not fall into arrears as a result of receiving direct payments.

Steve Webb: The Government are committed to supporting working-age recipients of housing benefit to make the transition to a single monthly direct payment of benefit.
	Landlords will be primarily responsible for collection of rent in the first instance and will be the first to contact tenants if any arrears accrue.
	The direct payment demonstration projects are testing how DWP and landlords can best support claimants to make their rent payments. They are already starting to show that a majority of tenants are confident in receiving their housing benefit straight into their bank account.
	We are working with the advice sector to ensure that claimants are able to access budgeting support services to help them to manage their money successfully, in preparation for universal credit. We will also have the option to make managed payments of rent to landlords for the minority of claimants who we assess to be at risk of not being able to manage direct payment effectively initially, enabling the provision of more extensive support over a longer period. Full guidance on alternative payment arrangements and budgeting support has been published on GOV.UK at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/181400/personal-budgeting-support-guidance.pdf

Housing Benefit

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was spent on housing benefit in each local authority area in each of the last 30 years.

Steve Webb: Housing benefit expenditure since 1996-97 by local authority is in the table entitled “Tables showing Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit expenditure by Local Authority from 1996/97 to 2011/12” which can be accessed via the following URL:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd4/index.php?page=expenditure
	Expenditure prior to 1996-97 is not available by local authority but total expenditure is available in the table entitled “Tables from 1948/49 to 2017/18” also accessed via the above URL.
	Note:
	The breakdown of HB expenditure is based on a combination of statistical data and local authority subsidy returns. 2011-12 expenditure is currently based on initial subsidy returns (final audited returns will be analysed and published later this summer).

Housing Benefit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  how many claimants were assessed as a member of a protected group and exempt from housing benefit restrictions for 52 weeks, on the grounds that an occupant of their home had died within the previous 12 months in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(2)  how many claimants in employment at the time of their initial claim were awarded protected group status on the grounds that they could previously afford their rent in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012;
	(3)  how many claimants were granted 13 weeks protection from housing benefit restrictions in 2012 on the grounds that they could previously afford their rent, and were single, under 35 years, without child dependents and living in the private rented sector.

Steve Webb: The information requested is not readily available, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Jobcentre Plus: Walthamstow

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will place in the Library a copy of (a) the league table and (b) the stricter benefit regime figures referred to in the internal staff memorandum by the Walthamstow Jobcentre adviser manager, dated 20 February 2013.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not have league tables for sanction referrals. On 15 May 2013, the Department published, down to office level, the data on referrals and outcomes since 2001 and this information can be found at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=adhoc_analysis

Jobseeker's Allowance: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Glasgow East constituency and (b) Scotland have (i) received a sanction and (ii) received a sanction and disputed it in each of the last five years; and how many such claimants had a sanction overturned as a result of it being reconsidered or appealed in the last five years.

Mark Hoban: Statistics on how many claimants of jobseeker's allowance in (a) Glasgow East constituency and (b) Scotland have (i) received a sanction and (ii) received a sanction and disputed it in each of the last five years; and how many such claimants had a sanction overturned as a result of it being reconsidered or appealed in the last five years are given in the following tables:
	
		
			 Number(1) of jobseeker's allowance (JSA) claimants with a sanction applied by area and year(3), 1 January 2008 to 31 May 2012 
			   Year(3) 
			 Area Action(2) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Scotland Jobcentre Plus Group(4) Sanction applied 28,330 35,290 42,230 40,620 22,050 
			 Glasgow East parliamentary constituency(5) Sanction applied 850 950 1,030 1,060 640 
		
	
	
		
			 Number(1) of jobseeker's allowance (JSA) sanctioned claimants who asked for a reconsideration or appealed the original decision by area and year(3), 1 January 2008 to 31 May 2012 
			   Year(3) 
			 Area Action(2) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Scotland Jobcentre Plus Group(4) Reconsidered 7,150 9,180 12,300 13,500 6,840 
			  Appealed 590 660 1,520 1,640 440 
			 Glasgow East parliamentary constituency(5) Reconsidered 180 270 320 340 190 
			  Appealed 20 30 70 70 20 
		
	
	
		
			 Number(1) of jobseeker's allowance (JSA) sanctioned claimants where the original decision was overturned on reconsideration or appeal by area and year(3), 1 January 2008 to 31 May 2012 
			   Year(3) 
			 Area Action(2) 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 
			 Scotland Jobcentre Plus Group(4) Overturned—Reconsideration 3,680 5,100 7,770 9,010 3,750 
			  Overturned—Appeal 70 90 150 160 70 
			 Glasgow East parliamentary constituency(5) Overturned—Reconsideration 80 150 210 220 140 
			  Overturned—Appeal — — 10 10 — 
			 (1) Figures are rounded to the nearest 10 and will include individuals who have had more than one referral decision or the same decision in more than one year e.g. if an individual has a sanction applied and has also appealed a sanction then they will appear twice, —denotes nil or negligible. (2)Action: The number of sanctions applied is the number of varied(6), fixed length(7) and entitlement decision(8 )sanction referrals where the decision was found against the claimant. The decision to apply a sanction can be overturned following reconsideration or appeal by the sector decision maker. (3)Year of Decision: The year in which the decision on the sanction referral, reconsideration or appeal was made. The year 2012 includes data only up to and including 31 May, which were the latest data available for all geographical areas. (4)Jobcentre Plus Group: Formerly known as Jobcentre Plus Regions. Jobcentre Plus Groups were updated to reflect changes to the hierarchical structure of Jobcentre Plus implemented on 5 April 2011 from 11 regions to seven groups. (5)Parliamentary constituency: Parliamentary constituencies are assigned by matching postcodes against the relevant postcode directory. Boundaries are as at the reference date. More information and a map can be found at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/geography/beginner-s-guide/maps/index.html Notes: (6 )Varied length sanctions: A sanction of between one week and 26 weeks is imposed for leaving employment voluntarily without just cause, refusing employment without good cause, or losing employment through misconduct. The actual period in each case is at the discretion of the adjudication officer who makes the decision. (7)Fixed length sanctions: A sanction of between one week and 26 weeks is imposed for refusal, without good cause, to attend an employment programme or carry out a jobseeker's direction. Payment of benefit continues in full pending the adjudication officer's decision on a sanction question. (8)Entitlement decisions: These are questions on which entitlement to JSA depends. For example, if there is doubt around whether the jobseeker's agreement (JSAg) is suitable, whether they are actively looking for work or making themselves available for work. In most cases payment of JSA will be suspended by benefit processing until the doubt is resolved. Source: DWP Information, Governance and Security Directorate: JSA Sanctions and Disallowance Decisions Statistics Database.

Jobseeker's Allowance: Scotland

Margaret Curran: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what proportion of new claims for jobseeker's allowance in Scotland were made online in each of the last 12 months.

Mark Hoban: The following table shows the total percentage of new claims made for jobseekers allowance online in Scotland:
	
		
			  ADS monthly data (%) 
			 2012  
			 May 25.1 
			 June 35.1 
			 July 29.8 
			 August 30.5 
			 September 36.1 
			 October 37.4 
			 November 40.3 
			 December 43.7 
			   
			 2013  
			 January 50.3 
			 February 48.9 
			 March 53.3 
			 April 67.1

National Insurance Credits

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has in the last two years reviewed its advice on whether applying sanctions to National Insurance credit claimants who fail to comply with jobseeker directions is legal under Regulation 8A(2)(b) of the Social Security (Credits) Regulations 1975.

Mark Hoban: The policy on credits only claimants has not changed—they will not be sanctioned if they fail to comply with a Jobseeker's Direction. We did make some changes to our guidance in 2012, however, to make clear that as there is no sanction for credits only claimants who fail to comply with a Jobseeker's Direction then there is no requirement to issue Jobseeker's Directions to them.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the Health and Safety Executive of the draft European Union Directive on Safety in the offshore oil and gas sector;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of the restructuring of the Health and Safety Executive on the offshore oil and gas (a) industry and (b) workforce; and what recent discussions he has had with representatives of that workforce on this restructuring;
	(3)  when the decision to abolish the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) offshore safety division was taken; and whether (a) his Department and (b) the HSE consulted (i) trade unions representing offshore employees and (ii) representatives of employers in the offshore oil and gas sector before this decision was taken;
	(4)  what recent assessment he has made of the effect on the culture of the safety regime for the UK oil and gas sector from the (a) restructuring of the Health and Safety Executive inspection regime and (b) draft European Union Directive on Offshore Safety;
	(5)  what assessment he has made of the effect on the safety inspection regime in the UK continental shelf of the Health and Safety Executive's decision to transfer specialist offshore safety inspectors to a new energy division overseeing the safety regime in mines, gas and pipeline industries and the offshore oil and gas industry;
	(6)  if he will publish the evidence base for the Health and Safety Executive's decision to transfer specialist offshore safety inspectors to a new energy division.

Mark Hoban: On 1 April 2013, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) created a new Energy Division, brigading what were the Offshore Division with HSE's pipeline specialists and its Mines Inspectorate. This relatively simple restructuring will strengthen HSE's ability to regulate the offshore industry.
	All of the HSE's offshore regulatory programmes and priorities are completely unaffected by the change and so there will be no adverse impacts on industry or the workforce. Furthermore, HSE will be recruiting additional offshore inspectors.
	HSE discussed these at meetings of the Step Change Leadership Team on 13 February and 17 April 2013. HSE communicated the rationale for the creation of the Energy Division to industry and trade unions at the Offshore Industry Advisory Committee (OIAC) on 19 March 2013; HSE consulted its own trade unions in making these changes, however it was not appropriate for DWP or HSE to consult with industry employee trade unions or employers.
	Following the meeting of 19 March 2013, an open paper was circulated to all OIAC members. Judith Hackitt, HSE Chair, wrote directly to MPs/MSPs with a particular interest in the offshore industry to explain the changes. No further publications are planned.
	The directive on the safety of offshore oil and gas operations has not yet been adopted. We expect the directive will further improve the UK's offshore safety regime by:
	introducing a new competent authority for offshore safety and environmental regulation;
	integrating management of safety and environmental risks; and,
	improving information sharing.
	HSE intends to implement the directive in a way that will ensure it plays its part in promoting a proper level of safety culture.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average age is of offshore safety inspectors working in the new energy division of the Health and Safety Executive.

Mark Hoban: The average age of the inspectors currently working in the Energy Division is 51.6 years.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many surveys of safety inspectors in the (a) offshore safety division and (b) hazardous industries division were carried out by the Health and Safety Executive in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008, (iii) 2009, (iv) 2010, (v) 2011 and (vi) 2012; and if he will place copies of the results of each such inspection in the Library.

Mark Hoban: The performance of inspectors in the Health and Safety Executive's Hazardous Installations Directorate is formally reviewed and assessed twice a year via the staff appraisal process. The Health and Safety Executive also surveys all of its staff each year using the ‘Civil Service People Survey'. The detailed information from both approaches is confidential and is not made publically available.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many offshore safety inspectors were employed by the Health and Safety Executive in each year since 2007.

Mark Hoban: The number of offshore inspectors employed since 2007 is shown in the following table. The figures are full-time staffing equivalents.
	
		
			 As at April each year Number 
			 2007 112.6 
			 2008 111.8 
			 2009 103.3 
			 2010 95.0 
			 2011 103.3 
			 2012 104.4 
			 2013 109.1

Offshore Industry: Safety

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what his policy is on the use of the worker engagement tool kit survey to survey staff working in the energy division of the Health and Safety Executive.

Mark Hoban: The worker engagement tool kit has been developed by the offshore industry to help in their efforts to measure and improve work force participation in managing safety performance at offshore worksites; I support this. The tool kit has not been designed for, nor is it appropriate to use within, HSE.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the retirement rate amongst offshore safety inspectors working in the Health and Safety Executive was in (a) 2010-11, (b) 2011-12 and (c) 2012-13; and what estimate has been made of the anticipated retirement rate of such staff in (i) 2013-14, (ii) 2014-15 and (iii) 2015-16.

Mark Hoban: The retirement rates for band 2 and 3 inspectors were as follows:
	
		
			 Full-time equivalents 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Retirements 8 7 4 
			 Average staff in post 95.7 99.8 101.6 
			 Rate (percentage) 8.4 7.0 3.9 
		
	
	It is difficult to estimate future retirement rates, as staff can continue to work as long as they are fit and able and they only have to give as little as one month’s notice before they retire.

Offshore Industry: Safety

Tom Greatrex: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what consideration was given to recommendations 23 to 26 of the Cullen Inquiry into the Piper Alpha disaster, published in November 1990 during the recent restructuring of the Health and Safety Executive; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Hoban: I am satisfied that the Health and Safety Executive has an expert and independent force of inspectors focussed on the offshore industry delivering the major hazard identification, prevention and mitigation regime that was at the heart of Lord Cullen's report. I am also satisfied that the Health and Safety Executive has to adapt, as it has done since the report was published, how it goes about this task to reflect the changing environment of the offshore industry.

Pension Credit

Gregg McClymont: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of people in (a) the UK, (b) Scotland and (c) Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East constituency who are eligible to receive pension credit but do not currently receive it.

Steve Webb: The Income Related Benefits: Estimates of Take-up report covers Great Britain for the financial year 2009-10. It provides caseload and expenditure estimates of take-up for income support and employment and support allowance (income-related), pension credit, housing benefit (including local housing allowance), council tax benefit and jobseeker's allowance (income-based). The latest release updates the statistics previously released on 10 June 2010. The figures are available online and can be found here:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=irb
	Estimates of take-up are not available for 2010-11 or 2011-12 nor are they sufficiently robust to present at geographies below Great Britain. As such estimates are not available for Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East constituency.

Personal Independence Payment

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has considered any changes to the personal independence payment system to include a provision for earlier payments to those suffering from specified illnesses and conditions.

Esther McVey: Personal independence payment has been designed to provide support tailored to an individual’s personal circumstances. We do not think it right that we should have different rules for people purely on the basis of specific illnesses and conditions they have, labelling individuals by their impairments and making blanket decisions about benefit entitlement.
	However, there are fast-track procedures and processes for people who have a progressive disease and whose death can be expected within six months. Such claimants will receive the enhanced rate of the daily living component without further assessment, paid from the date of their claim. They may also receive either rate of the mobility component if they satisfy the conditions of entitlement.

Personal Independence Payment

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what discussions his Department has had with the contractor for the personal independence payment assessments in Lot 2 (Wales and Central England) regarding Welsh language provision.

Esther McVey: Assessments for personal independence payment will comply with the Department for Work and Pensions’ obligations under the Welsh Language Act (1993). All materials relating to the assessment process will be available in Welsh and the assessment itself can be carried out by a Welsh speaker, if requested.

Social Security Benefits

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people his Department has stopped paying benefits to for having no right to be in the country for each of the past five years; and what the total amount of benefits claimed by these people was for each of the past five years.

Mark Hoban: The information you have requested is not held by the Department.
	Currently we check the nationality and immigration status of benefit claimants to ensure the benefit is paid properly and to prevent fraud. While this information is used, it is not recorded as part of the payment administrative systems.
	Looking forward, the Government are looking at ways to record nationality and immigration status of migrants who make a claim to universal credit so that we have more robust management information about our claimants.

Social Security Benefits: Merseyside

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many families in (a) Birkenhead constituency, (b) Wirral and (c) Liverpool city region will be affected by the benefit cap.

Mark Hoban: The number of households who we estimate will be affected by the benefit cap by:
	(a) Parliamentary constituency has been placed in the Library; this will be updated to reflect new estimates.
	(b) Local authority area has been placed in the Library and can be found here:
	http://data.parliament.uk/DepositedPapers/Files/DEP2013-0676/Local_Authority_breakdown_of_those_ affected_by_the_benefit_cap_final.doc
	(c) Liverpool city region, this area is a sum of the local authorities within, therefore can be found at the link above.
	The benefit cap is being applied through a phased implementation which commenced on 15 April 2013 in Bromley, Croydon, Enfield and Haringey. It will be introduced at a national level from 15 July 2013. Also, estimates assume that the situation of these households will go unchanged, and they will not take any steps to either work enough hours to qualify for working tax credit, renegotiate their rent in situ, or find alternative accommodation. The Department is identifying and writing to all the households who are likely to be affected by the cap and we are offering advice and support through Jobcentre Plus, including, where appropriate, early access to the Work Programme before the cap is introduced.

State Retirement Pensions

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will take steps to ensure that people who contract out of additional elements of the state pension are not left worse off in retirement as a result of doing so.

Steve Webb: Occupational pension schemes that were contracted out of the state additional pension on a defined benefit (DB) basis between 1978 and 1997 are required to provide a scheme pension. That pension, as a minimum, must be a pension broadly equivalent to the state earnings-related pension scheme (SERPS), so should not leave those people worse off in retirement as a result of being contracted out.
	The requirements for contracting out on a DB basis were changed in April 1997, and schemes now have to satisfy an overall test, which was designed broadly to match the 1997 value of the state earning-related pension scheme (SERPS). This meant that the scheme pension must be broadly equivalent to or better than a pension based on 1/80th x average earnings in the last three years x years of service with a normal pension age of 65. From 1997, no state additional pension was earned if a person contracted out on a DB basis. But when the second state pension (S2P) was introduced in 2002, it became possible for a low to moderate earner to earn some state additional pension. Again, those who contracted out on a DB basis after 1997 should not be worse off in retirement as a result of doing so. Contracting out will cease for DB in 2016.
	Under contracting out on a defined contribution basis, which was abolished in April 2012, the contracting-out rebate rates (the reduction in the amount of national insurance paid by the individual and an age-related rebate paid to the scheme at the end of the tax year) were recommended and set based on the Government Actuary's best estimates about the expected cost of replacing the state additional pension given up through contracting-out. There was always a known risk that the reality would turn out to be different from the assumptions, and individuals chose to enter these terms on a voluntary basis accepting that risk. The Government do not plan to take any steps to adjust the state pension to take account of any worse than expected investment outcomes.

State Retirement Pensions

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the decile amounts of the deduction from state pension made in respect of periods of contracted-out employment for (a) men and (b) women reaching state pension age in (i) the latest year for which figures are available and (ii) each of the previous five years.

Steve Webb: Comprehensive information about the amounts of the deduction from state pension made in respect of periods of contracted out employment are not readily available from administrative data within the timescales available.
	The Department will publish this information in an ad hoc publication before summer recess.
	To estimate deductions in respect of periods of contracted-out employment for the purposes of the state pension reform the Department uses Pensim2 data. This is not a suitable data source for providing historical information.

State Retirement Pensions

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the answer of 11 February 2013, Official Report, column 510W, on state retirement pensions, what proportion of people would receive an amount greater than £144 per week net of any deduction made in respect of periods of contracted-out employment should the current system remain in place.

Steve Webb: State pension outcomes under the current two-tier system vary widely. By contrast, under single tier the large majority of pensioners in the medium term could expect to retire on the full weekly amount of single-tier pension.
	The Department's modelling suggests that if the current system were to remain in place, around 35% of people reaching state pension age in between 2016-17 and 2036-37 would receive more than the illustrative £144 per week single-tier amount.
	Under the proposed single-tier pension, around 70% of people reaching state pension age between 2016-17 and 2036-37 would receive an amount equal to or greater than the full single-tier amount.
	Source
	DWP modelling based on PENSIM2

State Retirement Pensions

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to Text Box 2.2 of his Department's White Paper, The single-tier pension, CM 8528, when his Department's population projections will be published.

Steve Webb: The Department for Work and Pensions does not publish population projections. The expenditure projections referred to in the White Paper, “The single-tier pension: a simple foundation for saving” were published on 18 January.
	They are available on the Department's website at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/adhoc_analysis/2013/ltp_pensioners.pdf

State Retirement Pensions

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to Chart 2.4 of his Department's White Paper, The single-tier pension, CM 8528, if he will provide the figures used to produce that chart.

Steve Webb: The information is in the following table. Note that the estimates have been updated to reflect a 2016 start date for the single-tier pension and are consistent with chart 6.1 of the revised impact assessment, available at
	https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/197841/single-tier-ia-april-2013.pdf
	
		
			 Percentage of GDP spent on pensioner benefits under current pension system and under the single-tier pension 
			  Current system Single tier 
			 2012 6.9 — 
			 2013 6.9 — 
			 2014 6.8 — 
			 2015 6.7 — 
			 2016 6.6 6.6 
			 2017 6.4 6.4 
			 2018 6.3 6.3 
			 2019 6.2 6.2 
			 2020 6.0 6.0 
			 2021 6.1 6.1 
			 2022 6.2 6.1 
			 2023 6.2 6.2 
			 2024 6.3 6.3 
			 2025 6.4 6.4 
			 2026 6.4 6.4 
			 2027 6.3 6.3 
			 2028 6.3 6.3 
			 2029 6.4 6.4 
			 2030 6.5 6.6 
			 2031 6.7 6.7 
			 2032 6.8 6.8 
			 2033 6.9 6.9 
			 2034 7.0 7.0 
			 2035 7.1 7.1 
			 2036 7.2 7.2 
			 2037 7.3 7.3 
			 2038 7.4 7.4 
			 2039 7.5 7.5 
			 2040 7.5 7.5 
			 2041 7.5 7.5 
			 2042 7.6 7.5 
			 2043 7.6 7.5 
			 2044 7.5 7.5 
			 2045 7.4 7.3 
			 2046 7.3 7.3 
			 2047 7.4 7.3 
			 2048 7.4 7.3 
			 2049 7.5 7.4 
			 2050 7.5 7.4 
			 2051 7.6 7.5 
			 2052 7.7 7.5 
			 2053 7.8 7.6 
			 2054 7.9 7.7 
			 2055 8.0 7.8 
			 2056 8.1 7.8 
			 2057 8.2 7.9 
			 2058 8.3 8.0 
			 2059 8.4 8.1 
			 2060 8.5 8.1 
			 Notes: 1. Pensioner benefit expenditure includes state pension, pension credit, housing benefit, localised council tax support, attendance allowance, disability living allowance, winter fuel payments, over-75 TV licences and Christmas bonus. 2. Expenditure is for Great Britain, plus overseas state pension excluding Northern Ireland, and is presented as a percentage of UK GDP.

Termination of Employment

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many employees in his Department have resigned in the last year for which figures are available; and how many resigned citing ethical reasons for leaving.

Mark Hoban: Within the fiscal year 2012-13 1,783 employees resigned from the Department, this represents approximately 1.7% of our total work force employed during this time. This figure includes Child Maintenance Group who joined the Department in August 2012. Information on resignations citing ethical reasons is not collected.

Training

Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what training staff in his Department have received in (a) enthusiasm and (b) other personal aptitudes.

Mark Hoban: The Department does not train staff in the subjects the hon. Member has inquired about.

Unemployment

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will undertake an assessment of the potential effect on unemployment in the event that the UK were to exit the European Union.

Mark Hoban: I have no plans to conduct such an assessment.

Universal Credit

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what financial assistance his Department will make available to those receiving universal credit who do not budget effectively and run out of their credit money before the next payment is due.

Mark Hoban: A range of budgeting advances are available to universal credit claimants dependant on individual circumstances. These can be for up to 50% of the award of benefit. Funding for providing support in a crisis will continue after implementation of universal credit and, where appropriate, DWP will signpost claimants to other financial support, including that provided by local authorities and devolved Administrations.

Universal Credit

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether his Department has estimated the number of benefit claimants without bank accounts who will receive universal credit.

Steve Webb: No formal estimate has been made of the number of claimants without bank accounts who will receive universal credit.
	DWP currently issues payments to around 800,000 working age claimants through methods of payment other than a bank account, such as the Post Office Card account or Simple Payment.
	Many of these claimants already have access to a bank account; others will be offered support to access suitable financial products and money advice before migrating to universal credit.

Universal Credit

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department is taking to assist universal credit claimants who do not currently have bank accounts.

Steve Webb: The majority of claimants already use a bank or building society account to manage their money and will continue to be paid in this way under universal credit. Some claimants do not currently use a bank account and we are working with the advice sector to ensure that claimants have appropriate support to help them access and utilise appropriate financial services.
	We are also looking to support the development of accounts with built-in budgeting features, such as ‘jam jar’ accounts. We are consulting with financial providers across the private, social and third sectors, and considering the best ways to make these types of products more widely available.
	Where a claimant is unable to access any other form of banking solution, we will have the ability to make universal credit payments into a Post Office card account or by Simple Payment.

Universal Credit

Liam Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people have successfully claimed universal credit in the pathfinder to date.

Mark Hoban: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the reply I provided him with on 13 May 2013, Official Report, column 69W, on how many people have claimed universal credit in the pathfinder to date. The Department is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend to publish official statistics on pathfinder areas in autumn 2013.
	We expect around 7,000 claims to be processed in pathfinders.

Winter Fuel Payments

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will estimate the net savings to his Department in the event that the winter fuel allowance was to be withdrawn from those pensioners currently eligible to pay income tax at the (a) higher rate of 40 per cent and (b) additional rate of 45 per cent.

Steve Webb: The estimates in the table are based on Department for Work and Pensions expenditure forecasts combined with information on the tax paid by older people from Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs Survey of Personal Incomes.
	
		
			 AME savings from withdrawing the winter fuel payment from different categories of taxpayers 
			  £ million 
			 (a) Higher rate taxpayers (40%) 100 
			 (b) Additional rate taxpayers (45%) 5 
			 Total 105 
		
	
	The table provides estimates of the expenditure associated with winter fuel payments, for higher and additional rate taxpayers, assuming the payment rate of £200 for people that have reached women's state pension age and are under 80, and £300 for people aged 80 or over. The figures are expressed in cash terms and rounded to the nearest £5 million.

Work Programme

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the number of Work programme participants who will not have found sustainable work after completion of their two-year Work programme in (a) Wales and (b) the UK in the six months from June 2013.

Mark Hoban: The number of Work programme participants that have found sustainable work and qualified for a job outcome provider payment forms a part of the Work programme official statistics. We are unable to provide estimates of those that have not found sustainable work without compromising the integrity of the statistical release.

Work Programme

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans his Department has for Work programme participants who have not found sustainable work after completion of that programme.

Mark Hoban: I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave previously to the hon. Member for Coventry South (Mr Cunningham) on 12 March 2013, Official Report, column 206W.

Work Programme: Powys

Glyn Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the Government's Work programme, how many referrals have been made to the scheme in Powys to date; and how many such referrals have found employment as a result of being on the scheme.

Mark Hoban: Information on the number of people that have been placed in to employment from the Work programme is not available.
	Statistics on the number of Work programme referrals and job outcomes by local authority can be found in the employment programmes section at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/index.php?page=tabtool
	Guidance for users is available at:
	http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd1/tabtools/guidance.pdf
	Follow the instructions to create the required tables:
	(1) In the Employment Programmes section select ‘Click here for statistics regarding the Work Programme’.
	(2) In the Benefit/Scheme section select ‘Work Programme: Cumulative figures’.
	(3) In the Analysis drop-down menu select either ‘Referrals (Thousands)’ or ‘Job Outcomes (Thousands)’.
	(4) In the Row drop-down menu select local authority.
	(5) In the Column drop-down menu select from a range of different variables for a cross-tabulation.
	(6) In the Subset drop-down menu there are a number of different variables available. If no subset is required, select ‘NONE’.
	(7) In the Date drop-down menu select the latest available date. For Work Programme data the latest available information is at July 2012.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Developing Countries: Disability

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps the Government are taking to ensure that a post-2015 development framework is inclusive of people with disability.

Justine Greening: The Prime Minister has been clear that we need to build on the Millennium Development Goals to reach the marginalised and most vulnerable—including people with disabilities, and has been working with the international community to shape a Post-2015 agenda that will deliver for people with disabilities, including in key areas such as education.

Developing Countries: Disability

Ivan Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development whether she plans to represent the Government at the UN High Level Meeting on disability and development on 23 September 2013.

Justine Greening: The UK Government will be represented at the UN High Level Meeting on disability and development in September. The exact plans for who will represent the UK at the meeting have yet to be decided.

Developing Countries: HIV Infection

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what initiatives she is supporting to streamline the licensing of new HIV medicines in developing countries.

Lynne Featherstone: The UK Government support efforts to agree licenses with holders of patents for HIV medicines to help the development of new generic medicines and formulations. For example, the Medicines Patent Pool aims to enhance access to HIV medicines by simplifying the licensing process, providing manufacturers with a one-stop-shop for licences for patents that may be required to produce a new generic.
	The UK Government also support efforts to strengthen processes for authorising and assuring the quality of HIV medicines in developing countries. This includes the Prequalification Programme managed by the World Health Organisation that verifies that HIV medicines (and other health commodities) meet quality standards.

Developing Countries: Poliomyelitis

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what discussions she has had with (a) the European Commission and (b) other EU bodies about funding for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative; and if she will make a statement.

Lynne Featherstone: DFID has regular contact with the European Commission (EC) about funding for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI). We are working on this issue with other polio partners including the GPEI's spearheading partners, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and those member states that support polio eradication.

ICT

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how many (a) computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) BlackBerrys and (d) other pieces of IT equipment were lost or stolen from her Department and non-departmental bodies in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Duncan: DFID's central accounting records show the following items have been reported as lost or stolen within the requested period.
	
		
			  Number of items reported in: 
			 Items 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Laptops 14 17 11 
			 Mobile Telephones 1 3 14 
			 BlackBerry — 1 8 
			 15” Monitor — — 1 
			 Memory sticks 2 2 5 
		
	
	No items have been reported for the Department's non departmental bodies.

Overseas Aid

Richard Graham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment she has made of the potential role of UK business in helping her Department achieve its objectives overseas; and what steps her Department has taken to assist UK businesses overseas in achieving these objectives.

Justine Greening: We know that business, including UK business, has a crucial role to play in generating growth in developing countries by providing workers with jobs, poorer consumers with affordable and better quality goods and services, and governments with taxes that allow them to provide for their citizens' basic needs. UK companies have become highly competitive in the international development market, and have won a large percentage of DFID's competitively-tendered, centrally-procured contracts.
	Following my speech at the London Stock Exchange, DFID is working with the Confederation of British Industry to develop a Business Engagement Strategy to enhance the scope for business, including UK business, to contribute to DFID's economic development agenda. We are also working across Whitehall to better coordinate trade and investment in the countries we work in.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

Clothing

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible have made a claim for evening dress allowance in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of such claims has been.

Alistair Burt: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) does not pay an allowance for evening wear. The FCO will reimburse staff for the actual cost of hiring formal clothing required when working at official evening functions, such as the Queen's Annual Evening Reception for the Diplomatic Corps, or State occasions.
	Our accounting systems do not allow us to separate the costs spent on clothing from other expenditure and to do so would incur disproportionate cost. This is also true for FCO Services and other Non-Departmental Public Bodies.

Israel

Graham Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what plans he has to intervene more directly to deal with cases of administrative detention in Israel.

Alistair Burt: We remain concerned about Israel's extensive use of administrative detention which, according to international law, should be used only when security makes this absolutely necessary rather than as routine practice, and as a preventive rather than a punitive measure. We have raised this with the Israeli authorities on many occasions, including at Foreign Minister, Attorney General and National Security Adviser levels.
	We will continue to do so until the issue is satisfactorily resolved.

Palestinians

James Clappison: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what recent discussions he had with representatives of the Palestinian Authority on payments made to Palestinian prisoners in Israeli prisons in the last 12 months.

Alistair Burt: The Department for International Development continues to have regular discussions with the Palestinian Authority (PA) on this issue, and encourage the PA to ensure that payments to Palestinian prisoners and their families are transparent, needs-based and affordable.
	Most recently, the Minister of State, Department for International Development, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rutland and Melton (Mr Duncan), discussed this issue with caretaker Palestinian Prime Minister Fayyad during his visit to the region in April. The Head of the Department for International Development Palestinian Programme also met the PA Minister of Detainees to discuss this issue on May 7.
	The caretaker Palestinian Prime Minister has made clear, both in public and to British Government officials, that payments to prisoners in Israeli jails are made at the request of the Israeli Authorities to meet basic living conditions.

Palestinians

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what estimate he has made of the proportion of the West Bank covered by agreed Israeli master plans.

Alistair Burt: Of the West Bank, over 60% is Area C, exclusively controlled by Israel and including a significant part of the West Bank's agricultural and grazing land as well as being essential for the development of the main Palestinian population centres. Israeli-agreed master plans are not required for Areas A and B.
	Of Area C, less than 1% of Area C has been planned for Palestinian development by the Israeli Civil Administration. According to the United Nations, more than 70% of the land in Area C has been allocated to Israeli settlements or the Israeli military and is unavailable for Palestinian use.
	Israeli planning permission is required for building any structures 20cm above or below ground in Area C. According to Israeli Government statistics, four of 444 Palestinian applications for building permits were approved in 2010. Palestinian properties built without permission are susceptible to demolition by the Israeli authorities.
	In order to support development of Palestinian communities in Area C, the UK, together with others in the international community, have funded the development and submission of ‘masterplans’ for a number of Palestinian communities in Area C. It is important to note that these plans do not address agricultural or grazing land.
	There are currently 32 such masterplans progressing through the Israeli planning system and in December 2012, five of these were considered to have met the required technical standard by the Israeli Civil Administration. The 32 masterplans cover 0.38% of the West Bank or 0.6% of Area C.
	We continue to urge Israel to ease the restrictions in place in Area C and to fulfil its obligation under the Oslo agreement to transfer authority over Area C to the Palestinian authority.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs 
	(1)  what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department.
	(2)  what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) “one in one out” and (ii) “one in two out” procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended.
	(3)  if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were.

David Lidington: The Foreign and Commonwealth Office(FCO) has not introduced any regulations since May 2010, within the scope of the “one in one out” and “one in two out” procedures. Most secondary legislation introduced by the FCO takes the form of Orders in Council rather than regulations and typically deals with matters such as the implementation of UN and EU sanctions and in the UK Overseas Territories (UK OT) and UK OT constitutional matters. Other FCO secondary legislation concerns either consular matters or the implementation of the UK's international obligations, for example in the fields of privileges and immunities of international organisations, international criminal law or the specification of EU treaties. These instruments do not regulate or impose costs on civil society organisations or business in the UK.

Shaker Aamer

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if the Prime Minister will discuss with the US President the diplomatic efforts to release Mr Shaker Aamer from Guantánamo Bay.

Alistair Burt: The UK Government continue to make clear to the US that we want Mr Aamer released and returned to the UK as a matter of urgency. The US Secretaries of Defense and State have the authority to affect Mr Aamer's release and return. Our efforts have therefore focussed on these departments as the most relevant parties. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs raised Mr Aamer's case numerous times with Secretary Clinton, and reiterated the British Government's commitment to securing his release and return on two separate occasions to her successor, Secretary Kerry, in May. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence also raised Mr Aamer's case with his US counterpart earlier this month. I raised Mr Aamer's case with US Deputy Secretary of State Burns during a visit to Washington in April, and senior officials continue to meet their US counterparts for discussions about Mr Aamer.

Training

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible enrolled in publicly-funded training courses in each of the last five years; what the total cost has been of such courses; and what the monetary value was of the 10 highest training course fees in each such year.

Alistair Burt: The information requested is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Agricultural Wages Board

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs pursuant to the answer of 19 March 2013, Official Report, column 610W, on Agricultural Wages Board, how many hours it took officials to scan and publish a summary of responses to the consultation on his Department's website; and what estimate he made of the length of time that it would have taken officials to scan and publish each response to the consultation online.

David Heath: holding answer 15 May 2013
	The summary of responses to the consultation on the Agricultural Wages Board (AWB) was produced as a normal part of any consultation process. We do not have records of how long the analysis and drafting process took.
	It is not possible to accurately estimate the length of time it would take officials to scan and publish online each response to this consultation, as the wider process would incorporate time to label, file and index responses in a way that would be meaningful and usable for customers.

Agricultural Wages Board: Clwyd

Susan Elan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the effect of the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board on people in Clwyd South constituency.

David Heath: There has not been any assessment of the regional impact of the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board on agricultural worker's wages.
	We have been quite clear that there is considerable uncertainty about the impact on workers' wages. The reality will depend on demand, which evidence shows is increasing, and how farmers use the increased flexibility.
	Many workers are already paid above the agricultural minimum wage for their grade, so the removal of the Agricultural Wages Board will probably not affect their wages. Moreover, the underlying market conditions suggest that farmers will need to offer competitive packages to attract and retain skilled and qualified staff.
	Workers with existing contracts at the time of abolition will retain entitlement to the terms of that employment until the contract either comes to an end or is varied by agreement between the worker and the employer.
	All workers will be protected by the national minimum wage.

Agriculture: Pay

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has to monitor effects of the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board on wages in the agricultural sector.

David Heath: DEFRA collects a range of statistics in the agricultural sector, including information about agricultural employment, and will continue to do so after the abolition of the Agricultural Wages Board. Moreover, the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) run by the Office for National Statistics provides data on wage levels in agriculture and allows direct comparison with other sectors.

Agriculture: Rain

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department is taking to protect farmers from the economic consequences of the anticipated high levels of rainfall in summer 2013.

David Heath: Following the recent adverse weather, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs hosted a meeting of industry representatives, farming charities and banks to highlight the financial impact this exceptional weather is having on farm businesses and to see what more can be done to support farmers who are struggling financially. The meeting was very constructive; the Government acknowledged the strength of support for farmers from the banking sector and the same representatives will meet again in July. In the meantime, we have set up a working group to look at identifying risks and improving resilience of the farming industry.
	DEFRA is investing £533 million in 2013-14 in flood and coastal erosion risk management through the Environment Agency. This will be spent on maintaining and improving defences and reducing the risk of flooding to home and commercial assets including farmland.
	The Environment Agency's (EA's) ongoing asset maintenance programme provides substantial benefits for agricultural land by reducing the risk of flooding from main rivers and the sea. More than 98% of EA maintained flood defence assets, protecting high consequence systems, are in the required target condition. These high consequence systems help protect approximately 50% of the agricultural land in England that is at risk of flooding from main rivers and the sea, including the vast majority of the most productive Grade 1 and 2 land. The other 50% of agricultural land at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea is protected by defences in what the EA describe as low and medium consequence systems, where more than 95% of agency-managed assets are in target condition. Farmland will also benefit from capital improvement projects. For example, in 2011-12 DEFRA funded projects provided an improved standard of flood protection to more than 180,000 acres of farm land.

Anaerobic Digestion

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the amount of land dedicated to growing crops for crop-only anaerobic digestion plants which have been granted feed-in tariffs.

David Heath: There are currently only six crop anaerobic digestion (AD) plants in the UK, requiring crops grown on roughly 3,300 ha of land. This is less than 0.02% of the available agricultural land in the UK.
	Other AD plants may use crops as part of a crop/waste mix although the split between the amounts of crops/waste used may vary from week to week.

Biofuels

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to prevent the development of biofuels competing with food production.

David Heath: The Government believe that food production must remain the primary goal of agriculture and the production of biofuel must not undermine food security, in the UK or internationally. Modelling analysis published as part of the Bioenergy Strategy suggests that increased EU demand for biofuels has led to global crop prices being around 3% to 5% higher than they would otherwise have been and that this would correspond to only a modest rise in food prices, since crops represent a small share of the cost of food production. As set out in that strategy, it is nevertheless essential that we continue to monitor the volume and all types of bioenergy demand and their links with food prices and production. To this end, we will continue to work with the European Commission in its ongoing evaluation of the economic, social and environmental impacts of the EU’s biofuels policies.

Bovine Tuberculosis

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the adequacy of testing arrangements for tuberculosis in cattle; and what steps he is taking to improve those arrangements.

David Heath: holding answer 15 May 2013
	The Government are committed to ensuring we have a comprehensive and balanced package of measures to tackle TB, with eradication as our ultimate long-term goal. We already have a robust set of measures in place to tackle transmission between cattle—including compulsory testing, slaughter of infected animals and movement restrictions on infected herds.
	Surveillance testing is assessed annually to review the adequateness of testing frequency. Latest changes were introduced in January 2013 when large parts of England moved to annual testing and radial testing around breakdowns. This was introduced in the low risk areas, to ensure that the disease does not establish in clean areas.
	Underpinning the successful delivery of the Eradication Programme is the role of the farming industry and individual farmers, working in partnership with vets, Government and others. Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) manages the regulation that sets TB test controls to defined policy requirements. Recent changes have been made to further enhance veterinary TB test quality assurance controls, strengthening procedural instructions and sanctions to meet European standards of governance.
	DEFRA is currently undertaking a review of the use of the interferon gamma blood test, which is used to supplement the skin test for bovine TB under certain circumstances. The outcome of this review will be published later in the year.
	DEFRA has also recently commissioned a research project to assess slaughterhouse surveillance which forms an important part of cattle controls.

Bread and Flour Regulations 1998

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the costings contained in the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998 Consultation Impact Assessment, what the costs would be to the (a) quarrying, (b) manufacture and (c) distribution industries of his proposals.

David Heath: During DEFRA's recent consultation on the Bread and Flour Regulations 1998, representations were received from operators within the industries referred to by the hon. Member. These built upon the information contained in the impact assessment on the costs of the various options to each of the sectors concerned. The Government are committed to ensuring that any policy decisions on the future of those regulations will take into account the effects on those industries, as well as health impacts and the interests of consumers. The Government intend to announce our decision before the summer recess.

Clothing

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible have made a claim for evening dress allowance in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of such claims has been.

Richard Benyon: Core DEFRA and its non-departmental public bodies do not provide staff with an evening dress allowance and has not done so in the past five years.

Dogs

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to encourage responsible dog ownership.

David Heath: The Government are introducing a range of measures to tackle irresponsible ownership of dogs. The measures include: extending the criminal offence of allowing a dog to be dangerously out of control to all places, including inside the dog owner's home; requiring all dogs to be microchipped from April 2016; and powers to enable local authorities and police to respond to instances of antisocial behaviour that involves a dog before the situation becomes dangerous.

Flood Control

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of the implications of adding agricultural production to the considerations used by the Environment Agency when planning flood protection work.

Richard Benyon: The potential impact of flooding on agricultural production is already used by the Environment Agency when planning flood protection work. The case for maintaining or improving defences of agricultural land is assessed in a similar way to other assets, based on potential damages avoided to agricultural land, crops and productivity, together with impacts on infrastructure and other assets which play a role in growing food and making it available to consumers. DEFRA's policy statement on the appraisal of flood and erosion risk management underlines the need to value agricultural land and the damages that could be caused by flooding and erosion. DEFRA provided specific guidance in 2008 based on HM Treasury Green Book appraisal principles.
	Agriculture continues to be a major beneficiary of the Environment Agency's flood risk management work. Capital projects completed during 2011-12 provided an improved standard of flood protection for more than 74,000 hectares of farm land. The Environment Agency's ongoing asset maintenance programme also continues to provide substantial benefits for agriculture by reducing the risk of flooding from main rivers and the sea.
	More than 98% of Environment Agency maintained flood defences protecting high consequence systems are in the required target condition. These systems help protect approximately 50% of the agricultural land in England that is at risk of flooding from main rivers and the sea, including the vast majority of the most productive, Grade 1 and 2 land. Estimated average annual damages avoided to agriculture in these areas is £73 million. The other 50% of agricultural land at risk of flooding from rivers and the sea is protected by defences in what the Environment Agency describes as low and medium consequence systems, where more than 95% of Environment Agency managed assets are in target condition and the estimated average damages avoided to agriculture are in the order of £47 million per year.

Food: Production

Andrew Bridgen: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what information his Department holds on the proportion of the EU's food requirement that was produced within the EU in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012. [R]

David Heath: The estimated EU food production to supply ratio is calculated to be approximately 90% in each of these years.
	This estimate is calculated as production divided by consumption, based on the farm gate value of production and net of exports and imports. This calculation is based on highly aggregated EU-level data supplied by Eurostat, which make it difficult to be precise about the estimate. The ratio is not an appropriate measure of “food security” since it fails to account for many dimensions of this complex issue.

Genetically Modified Organisms: Wheat

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the cost is of the additional autumn sown trial of GM wheat at Rothamsted Research, reference 11/R8/01; and how it will be funded.

David Willetts: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
	I refer the right hon. Member to the reply I gave on 18 April 2013, Official Report, columns 529-30W.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which UK supermarkets were invited to his Department's stakeholder meeting to discuss F Gas Regulation in March 2013.

Richard Benyon: All UK supermarkets were invited, either directly or through invitations to industry representative bodies, to attend the open stakeholder meeting held in London on 4 March to discuss the European Commission's proposal for a new regulation on fluorinated greenhouse gases.

Horse Racing

Chris Williamson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  if he will estimate the number of racehorses killed outright or destroyed on UK racecourses or shortly afterwards due to injury sustained in (a) flat, (b) all weather and (c) national hunt racing in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011 and (iii) 2012;
	(2)  if he will make an estimate of the number of racehorses killed outright or destroyed due to training injuries in the UK in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

David Heath: holding answer 16 May 2013
	These data are not held by Government. However, statistical data on numbers of horse fatalities at racecourses are held by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). The BHA have supplied the following data:
	
		
			  Flat turf All weather National hunt 
			  Number of fatalities Percentage of runners Number of fatalities Percentage of runners Number of fatalities Percentage of runners 
			 2010 31 0.08 27 0.13 167 0.53 
			 2011 21 0.05 15 0.07 145 0.42 
			 2012 33 0.09 21 0.09 157 0.50 
		
	
	The above figures are not Government statistics but provided by the BHA, as required by their rules on horse racing. The BHA do not hold statistics on numbers of race horse fatalities during training because their rules do not require it.

Horses: Exports

Mary Creagh: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what systems and checks are in place to prevent the export of horses for slaughter from the UK.

David Heath: holding answer 20 May 2013
	Banning the export of live horses would be illegal and undermine the principle of the free movement of goods enshrined in the treaty on the functioning of the European Union. There are therefore no systems or checks in place to prevent this activity.
	However, the Government will continue to ensure that the requirements of the welfare in transport legislation (EU Council Regulation (EC) 1/2005) will be applied robustly to all long distance transporters of horses operating within the UK. The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratory Agency undertakes risk based inspections of consignments of horses both at premises of origin, in the form of supervised loadings, and at ports. Furthermore, local authority trading standards departments, who are the agents responsible for enforcement of the welfare in transport legislation, will investigate any claims that horses are being transported in contravention of the regulation.

Hydrofluorocarbons

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with UK retailers to discuss how to reduce the hydrofluorocarbon emissions emanating from their sector.

Richard Benyon: DEFRA officials continue to have regular dialogue with UK food retailers and the British Retail Consortium to discuss steps they are taking to address their use of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. Furthermore, as part of the implementation of the fluorinated greenhouse gases regulatory framework, there have been concentrated efforts to work with the large food retailers, which are major users of HFCs, to address their HFC emissions and reduce leakage rates.

Hydrofluorocarbons

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what assessment he has made of proposals put forward in the EU Council to reduce the UK's greenhouse gas emissions emanating from hydrofluorocarbons.

Richard Benyon: We are carefully considering the European Commission's (EC) proposal to assess the potential benefits and impacts, taking into account the extensive impact assessment that accompanies it. The EC has acknowledged that further analysis of the impacts is needed for some elements of the proposal, which it is now undertaking.
	We are also carrying out our own analyses of the potential impacts for the UK. In broad terms our early analyses indicate that some technical adjustments will be needed to the EC's proposal to enable it to be fully implemented. However, there is some way still to go in discussion of the EC's proposal before a final agreement can be reached. Our ongoing assessment work will continue to inform that process.

Hydrofluorocarbons

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will support an EU ban on the use of HFCs in commercial refrigeration equipment.

Richard Benyon: We would carefully consider proposals for bans on the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) on a case-by-case basis. Support for any specific ban would depend on the date it took effect, taking into account the availability and technical feasibility of alternatives, together with the financial and environmental costs, and the benefits of replacing HFC refrigerants across the range of systems concerned.

Packaging

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to reduce the environmental effects of packaging of products in the food and drink sector.

Richard Benyon: Significant achievements on packaging in the food and drink sector have been made during the first two phases of the Courtauld Commitment, the voluntary responsibility deal with food retailers and manufacturers. To date, 2.3 million tonnes of waste have successfully been prevented by Courtauld signatories and consumers.
	A third phase of the Courtauld Commitment was launched on 9 May. This latest phase, which runs until December 2015, aims to prevent a further 1.1 million tonnes of waste. It has attracted 45 signatories, including all major grocery retailers and many household brands and manufacturers. This shows the grocery industry's commitment to reducing food and drink waste, for the benefit of both the environment and the economy.
	There are now limited opportunities for more substantial reductions without resulting in product damage due to under-packaging. Our analysis shows that without Courtauld 3 there could have been a 3% increase in greenhouse gas emissions from food packaging as sales volumes increase. The environmental impact of food waste due to under-packaging is greater than the packaging itself.
	Under Courtauld 3 there will be greater focus on designing packaging for recycling and increasing recycled content, where appropriate. Examples are designing and labelling packaging to make it easier for consumers to recycle, by specifying recycled content where appropriate, and continuing to optimise packaging while ensuring there is no compromise on product protection.
	The Hospitality and Food Service Agreement, a voluntary agreement between the UK, devolved Administrations and the hospitality and food service sector (which includes restaurants, hotels, caterers and pubs) also aims to reduce food and packaging waste.
	155 companies have signed up to two targets under the agreement. The first of these is to reduce food and associated packaging waste arising by 5% by the end of 2015. This is against a 2012 baseline and will be measured by CO2 equivalent emissions. The second is to increase the overall rate of food and packaging waste being recycled, composted or sent to anaerobic digestion to at least 70% by the end of 2015.
	The Government have also set higher packaging recycling targets for business for 2013-17.

Refrigeration

Iain Wright: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will consider bringing forward proposals to establish a standard code for refrigeration, processing and air conditioning; and if he will make a statement.

Richard Benyon: We are unsure which code is being referred to, or what the meaning of “processing” is in the context of refrigeration and air conditioning. If the hon. Member would be so kind as to provide us with more detail, we will endeavour to provide a substantive response.

Refrigerators: Pollution Control

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support his Department is giving to the Consumer Goods Forum initiative to phase out fluorine in refrigeration units.

Richard Benyon: We are aware of the Consumer Goods Forum's commitment to start phasing out the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) in new refrigeration equipment from 2015. It is encouraging to hear that large consumer goods manufacturers and retailers are taking steps to address their use of HFC refrigerants and are looking for ways to introduce alternative systems to replace HFCs. Officials have met with members of the Consumer Goods Forum to discuss the initiative and understand more about the strategies they are adopting to achieve their objectives. We believe this is a useful example of how voluntary agreements can help deliver a reduction in HFC use in certain refrigeration systems.

Slaughterhouses: Animal Welfare

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking to improve the welfare of animals slaughtered without stunning.

David Heath: The Government would prefer to see all animals stunned before slaughter but recognises the right of members of religious communities to eat meat prepared in accordance with their religious beliefs. The Government have therefore confirmed that we do not intend to ban religious slaughter without stunning at this stage. Nonetheless, we intend to continue discussions on possible further improvements in animal welfare with members of the Jewish and Muslim communities once the new EU Regulation 1099/2009 on the protection of animals at the time of killing has been implemented.

Wheat

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what support his Department is providing to scientists working on developing new wheat varieties.

David Heath: DEFRA provides support for the development of new crop varieties at a pre-competitive level through a number of mechanisms.
	The Wheat Genetic Improvement Network has been funded through a number of sequential projects. These aim to generate pre-breeding materials carrying novel/enhanced environmental and other sustainability traits for the UK breeding industry. It is managed by a team including representatives of the key UK research groups and commercial breeding companies.
	Breeding materials, knowledge, tools and technologies from the network are actively shared across the scientific and commercial breeding communities. These are used in other research funded by DEFRA, industry and the research councils. This network ensures that the material is exploited as widely as possible and commercialised for use on farm.
	DEFRA also provides support for industry-led research (including genetic improvement) through the Sustainable Agri-Food Innovation Platform. This is in collaboration with the Technology Strategy Board, the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council and Scottish Government.

Wheat

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will provide funding for the National Institute for Agricultural Botany to develop a new form of high-yield wheat.

David Heath: DEFRA is currently providing funding to the National Institute for Agricultural Botany as part of a project looking at new wheat root ideotypes for yield performance in reduced input agriculture.
	DEFRA research is commissioned in response to policy need. The majority of this research is let through open competition to which interested institutions including the National Institute for Agricultural Botany (NIAB) can apply.
	NIAB currently has a programme of research on wheat improvement with funding from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council; the Agricultural and Horticultural Development Board and the breeding industry.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Action Fraud

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what proportion of police constabularies in England have established formal links with Action Fraud;
	(2)  which police constabularies have not yet established formal links with Action Fraud.

Jeremy Browne: All police constabularies (Forces) in England have established formal links with Action Fraud.

Buildings

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the total running costs were for each building used, owned or rented in central London by her Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in each of the last three financial years.

James Brokenshire: The running costs of Home Office buildings including its agencies and non-departmental public bodies net of income received from other Departments are set out in the following table. Retention of offices in central London is kept under continuous review and substantial savings of £13.2 million per annum are expected in 2014.
	
		
			 Property name Post code Tenure type 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 Notes 
			 10 Victoria Street SW1 MOTO(1) 1,057,261 — — Vacated 1 October 2010 
			 2 Marsham Street SW1 Leasehold 39,117,587 44,339,851 (2)53,049,866  
			 Allington Towers SW1 Leasehold 6,069,797 627,408 — Vacated 28 September 2011 
			 Angel Square EC1 Leasehold 1,373,958 1,333,694 1,296,831  
			 Becket House SE1 Leasehold 1,892,773 2,143,722 2,304636  
			 Communications House EC1 Leasehold 1,140,372 367,311 134,255 Vacated 23 June 2012 
			 Counting House SE1 Leasehold 657,366 745,460 791,585  
			 Fleet Street EC4 Leasehold 1,413,153 1,511,160 1,490,658  
			 Globe House SW1 Leasehold 6,035,430 6,062,288 5,863,618  
			 Hannibal House SE1 Leasehold 1,129,735 282,434 — Vacated 30 June 2011 
			 High Holborn WC1 Leasehold 4,055,120 4,137,353 4,498,774  
			 New Kings Beam House SE1 Leasehold 3,173,000 2,379,750 — Vacated 22 December 2011 
			        
			 Total(3)   67,115,552 63,930,431 69,430,223  
			 (1) The Home Office occupied space in 10 Victoria Street under a MOTO (Memorandum of Terms of Occupation) with BIS. (2) The Department's savings will increase by £13.2 million per annum when DCLG relocate to 2 Marsham Street in 2014, which will replace the income lost from other users that vacated in 2011 and 2012. (3) The table does not include details of four buildings on security grounds.

Domestic Violence

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many victimless prosecutions in cases of domestic violence have been conducted by each police force in each year since 2005; and if she will make a statement.

Jeremy Wright: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
	Information held centrally by the Ministry of Justice on the court proceedings database does not include the circumstances behind each case beyond the description provided in the statute. It is not possible to separately identify from this centrally held information prosecutions for domestic violence from other offences of assault, Information is not collated centrally on victims of alleged offences proceeded against, aside from the information provided by the statute under which proceedings are brought.

Drugs and Alcoholic Drinks: Misuse

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for Education about support to families of drugs and alcohol users.

Jeremy Browne: Home Office Ministers have regular meetings with ministerial colleagues and others as part of the process of policy development and delivery. As was the case with previous Administrations, it is not the Government's practice to provide details of all such meetings.

Europol and Eurojust

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many times European countries have made requests for cooperation from the UK via (a) Europol and (b) Eurojust in each of the last 10 years.

James Brokenshire: The number of requests made in the years for which figures are available is as follows:
	
		
			  Europol Eurojust 
			 2003 (1)— 37 
			 2004 (1)— 65 
			 2005 (1)— 82 
			 2006 (1)— 111 
			 2007 (1)— 170 
			 2008 (1)— 182 
			 2009 3,995 224 
			 2010 2,719 201 
			 2011 3,449 197 
			 2012 3,845 190 
			 (1 )Figures not available

Illegal Immigrants

Stephen Barclay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of people without the right to remain in the country for each year since 2005.

Mark Harper: The clandestine nature of irregular migration and the lack of a common definition mean that it is difficult to produce estimates on the number of people without a right to remain in the UK.
	In the last decade there have been two estimates of the illegal migrant population in the UK, giving central estimates of 430,000 (range 310,000 to 570,000) in 2001 (Woodbridge, J. ‘Sizing the Unauthorised (Illegal) Migrant Population in the United Kingdom in 2001’. Online Report 29/05, Home Office, London, 2005) and 618,000 (range 417,000 to 863,000) in 2007 (Gordon I., K. Scanlon, T. Travers, and C. Whitehead, ‘Economic Impact on London and the UK of an Earned Regularisation of Irregular Migrants in the UK’. GLA Economics, Greater London Authority, London, 2009.).
	The 2012 European Migration Network report ‘Practical Measures for Reducing Irregular Migration’ (Toms and Thorpe, 2012):
	http://emn.intrasoft-intl.com/Downloads/download .do;jsessionid=BB91F016906F64A5AD8BD0C1D8BA 1586?fileID=2909
	sets out the current UK evidence on the illegal migrant population.

Immigration Controls

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many applications for sponsor licences have been received in each of the last 24 months.

Mark Harper: The following table lists the number of sponsor licence applications received each month from 1 May 2011 to 30 April 2013:
	
		
			  Total applications received 
			 2011  
			 May 744 
			 June 835 
			 July 786 
			 August 812 
			 September 799 
			 October 755 
			 November 751 
			 December 605 
			   
			 2012  
			 January 699 
			 February 743 
			 March 750 
			 April 569 
			 May 651 
			 June 548 
			 July 631 
			 August 682 
			 September 669 
			 October 750 
			 November 686 
			 December 530 
			   
			 2013  
			 January 762 
			 February 628 
			 March 697 
		
	
	
		
			 April 718 
			 Notes: 1. The figures quoted have been derived from management information and are therefore provisional and subject to change. This information has not been quality assured under National Statistics protocols. 2. Figure relates to sponsorship licence applications from employers and educational institutions. 3. Figure relates to applications logged in the period from 1 May 2011 to 30 April 2012. 4. Figures may include additional sub tier applications from employers and educational institutions seeking to extend the remit of existing licences.

Misuse of Drugs Ministerial Group

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what discussions she has had as part of the Interministerial Group on Drugs with stakeholders; how many meetings the Interministerial Group on Drugs has had in each of the last 12 months; and if she will publish details of such meetings.

Jeremy Browne: Home Office Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of international partners, as well as organisations and individuals in the public and private sectors, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of these meetings are passed to the Cabinet Office on a quarterly basis and are subsequently published on the Cabinet Office website.

Police National Computer

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether police information notices are recorded on the police national computer; and if she will make a statement.

Damian Green: Police information notices are not recorded on the police national computer. There is currently no national policy for recording them.

Police: Recruitment

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what advice she has given to police authorities on the employment in civilian roles of former police officers.

Damian Green: The Home Office has not provided any guidance on the employment of former police officers in civilian roles. This is a local matter for Police and Crime Commissioners and chief constables as the employers of police staff.

Surveillance

Michael Meacher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department in how many cases powers under the Regulations of Powers Act 2000 have been used for investigating non-serious crimes in each year since 2000; and what definition her Department uses for a serious crime under the Act.

James Brokenshire: The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’) defines ‘serious crime' in section 81(3) as an offence which if committed by someone aged 21 or over with no previous convictions would reasonably attract a prison sentence of three years or more, or an offence which involves the use of violence, results in financial gain or is conduct by a large number of people in pursuit of a common purpose. A breakdown on the use of RIPA in serious crime cases is not available centrally. General statistics on RIPA use are published each year by the independent Chief Surveillance Commissioner, the Interception of Communications Commissioner and the Intelligence Services Commissioner, copies of which are in the House Library.

Tickets: Fraud

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of ticket fraud have been received by Action Fraud in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Browne: Action Fraud started recording specific reports of ticket fraud in January 2012. Prior to that reports were included in a more general category of fraud. Action Fraud received 3,217 reports in 2012 and 1,373 reports from January to April 2013.

Tickets: Fraud

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of ticket fraud policing since the disbandment of the Operation Podium taskforce.

Jeremy Browne: The report produced by Operation Podium, on tackling ticket crime during the London Olympics, has made a considerable contribution to the understanding of ticketing crime. Since its publication, the Home Office has remained in contact with the Metropolitan police to ensure that the lessons learned from securing this major event can be applied to other events in the future. The Government are currently considering the success of this work and its potential to further strengthen the work on tackling ticket fraud.

Tickets: Fraud

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many complaints of ticket fraud received by Action Fraud (a) were issued a crime reference number, (b) were categorised as crime-related, (c) were investigated and (d) resulted in a conviction in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Browne: Action Fraud started recording specific reports of ticket fraud in January 2012. Prior to that reports were included in a more general category of fraud. The service issues crime reference numbers for both crime reports and information (crime related) reports. Action Fraud (a) issued crime reference numbers to 3,217 reports in 2012 and 1,373 from January to April 2013 (b) took 55 information (crime related) reports in 2012 and 19 reports from January to April 2013. No central record is held of how many cases reported to Action Fraud are subsequently investigated (c). Conviction data, held by the Ministry of Justice, record convictions for “fraud and forgery” and cannot be disaggregated further (d).

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

European Union: Citizenship

Mark Reckless: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what support she plans to give to the 2014 to 2020 Europe for Citizens programme.

Hugh Robertson: The EU's 2014-20 Europe for Citizens Programme—an extension of this long-running programme—will enable local UK organisations to bid for funds to support civic participation, such as town-twinning and remembrance activities, including for the Holocaust. As an article 352 measure under the European Union Act 2011 the extended programme must be approved by an Act of the UK Parliament before a UK Minister can support it in Brussels. The programme requires unanimous support from all European Union member states to be taken forward. The Government intend to recommend to Parliament that it approve the programme.

Public Lending Right

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what representations she has received seeking her agreement to enact the provisions of the Digital Economy Act 2010 as it relates to the extension of public lending right to the lending of e-books and audio books.

Edward Vaizey: The Government commissioned an independent review of e-lending in public libraries in England last year and the panel, led by William Sieghart, received evidence on this and related matters from the parties listed in the review:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/an-independent-review-of-e-lending-in-public-libraries-in-england
	The review recommended that Public Lending Right (PLR) be extended to e-books and audiobooks and the Government Response, published on 27 March 2013, sets out the Government's position in terms of extending PLR. Any proposal for the potential extension of PLR will be communicated in due course, following full consideration of this matter.

Public Libraries

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps she is taking to ensure that local authorities properly reward writers and creators for the use of their works in lending e-books and audio books via public libraries in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

Edward Vaizey: It is the responsibility of library authorities to reach appropriate agreements with non-print rights holders or with other parties on behalf of those rights holders in order to license the lending of their non-print works.

Sign Language

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what assessment she has made of the equality of access available for deaf people whose first language is British Sign Language in terms of communicating with (a) cultural, media, sporting and business organisations and (b) the agencies and public bodies for which she is responsible; and if she will make a statement.

Edward Vaizey: We recognise the importance of removing the barriers deaf people face in accessing services. The Equality Act 2010 provides the protection which ensures disabled people can access goods, facilities and services, by requiring those with duties under the Act, including Government Departments, to make a reasonable adjustment so that their services and functions are accessible. For example, installing perimeter loops in museum galleries.
	We also recognise that technology has a vital role to play in assisting disabled people to access information, advice and services especially as public services increasingly go online. That is why DCMS is encouraging organisations to explore how they can meet the needs of BSL customers, through developing a mix of accessible contact strategies for their disabled and older customers via e-mail, SMS, instant messenger, text relay and Video Relay Services (VRS). This will assist many people who are deaf and hearing impaired.
	More generally, the cross-Government strategy ‘Fulfilling Potential' aims to make sure that all people, whatever their impairment, have the opportunity to receive a good education, obtain employment, access services and live as fully engaged members of a modern society in every aspect of day to day life.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Business Premises: Change of Use

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the statement of 9 May 2013, Official Report, column 46, on planning: re-use of buildings, 
	(1)  whether, under the changes to his Department's policy, (a) existing betting shop chains and (b) pay-day lending shops will be able to make use of the freedom to open up in A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, D1 or D2 premises without having to apply for planning permission;
	(2)  whether under the changes to his Department's policy a betting business could use the new permitted development rights to open up in a part of premises while it is still being used as a public house.

Nicholas Boles: holding answer 20 May 2013
	The new relaxations allow uses under A1, A2, A3, A4, A5, B1, D1 and D2 to change use without the need for a planning application to A1, A2, A3 and B1 only, for a temporary period of up to two years. Financial and professional services, including betting offices, are in the A2 class, and change of use from A3, A4 and A5 to A2 is already permitted.
	Betting premises are licensed through the Gambling Act 2005. Secondary legislation imposes a mandatory condition on the licenses of betting shops that the consumption of alcohol on the premises is prohibited. There is thus a legal prohibition on a betting shop from operating from a pub.

Carbon Monoxide

Jason McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what regulations govern the installation of solid fuel burners with respect to the prevention of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Don Foster: Requirements J1 to J6 of the Building Regulations 2010 SI No. 2214 (as amended) relate to the installation of combustion appliances and are designed, among other things, to reduce the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. Requirement J3 provides for the provision of carbon monoxide alarms, where appropriate, in dwellings.

Families: Disadvantaged

Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which local authorities failed to identify and work with 75 per cent or more of their target families in 2012-13; which such authorities will have their funding cut in 2013-14 because of such failure; which other local authorities will receive less than 100 per cent of their provisional maximum funding for 2013-14; and for what reasons each such reduction in funding will occur.

Brandon Lewis: On Monday 13 May 2013, my Department published the latest progress information which details the cumulative totals of families identified and families being worked with as of end March 2013. This was posted on the gov.uk website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications
	All 152 upper-tier local authorities have been invited to claim attachment fees for the number of families with whom they intend to commence working in their troubled families programmes during 2013-14 (year 2 of programme). The timing of the payments of those fees will differ according to which of two groups they fall into when considering their progress information as at the end of 2012/13 (year 1 of programme). The groups are as follows:
	Group 1:
	Areas working with 75% or more of their year 1 families as of 31 March 2013 will receive their year 2 attachment fees in full, in one payment in the first quarter of 2013-14.
	Group 2:
	Areas working with between 33% and 75% of their year 1 families as of 31 March 2013 will receive half of their year 2 attachment fees in the first quarter of 2013-14 with the remaining half to be paid in the second quarter of 2013-14 providing they have caught up (i.e. commenced working with remainder of year 1 families) by then.
	There are no areas working with less than 33% of their year 1 families as of 31 March 2013.

Homelessness: Asylum

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many adults have become homeless as a result of eviction following a refusal of refugee status.

Mark Prisk: The Department does not collect the information requested.

Right to Buy Scheme: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authority properties have been purchased through the Government's Right-to-Buy scheme in Romford constituency in each of the last five years.

Mark Prisk: Data on the sales of local authority properties through the Right to Buy scheme are not available at constituency level. Figures are available at local authority level and can be found in Tables 691 (quarterly data) and 685 (annual data) here:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/live-tables-on-social-housing-sales
	The figures show that there were 95 sales through the Right to Buy scheme in Havering, the local authority that covers Romford constituency, in the four years between 2009-10 and 2012-13. Figures at a local authority level are only currently available back to 2009-10.
	Since the new discounts were introduced in April 2012, Right to Buy sales have trebled in Havering compared to the year before. But there is more to do to help inform tenants about their new rights and the new London discount of up to £100,000.
	It should be noted that these are sales from local authorities and do not include sales of social housing stock through Preserved Right to Buy made by Registered Providers (such as housing associations).

Tenancy Deposit Schemes

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps his Department is taking to make tenants aware of deposit protection schemes.

Mark Prisk: It is a requirement of my Department's service concession agreements with the tenancy deposit protection scheme providers that they carry out publicity and marketing activities, aimed at tenants as well as landlords. There will be increased publicity following the recent launch of two new schemes in April this year, both from the new schemes in order to attract members, but also from the existing schemes in light of the additional competition.
	There is also guidance for both landlords and tenants on tenancy deposit protection on the government's website gov.uk.

TRANSPORT

Aviation: Exhaust Emissions

Kwasi Kwarteng: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what progress he has made on discussions with the International Civil Aviation Organisation on carbon emissions.

Simon Burns: The Government remain committed to tackling the climate change impacts of international aviation at a global level and will continue to work through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to push for an ambitious global agreement on measures to address emissions from this sector at this year's General Assembly (24 September-4 October).
	Since December 2012 the UK has actively participated in the ICAO High Level Group on Climate Change which has met three times so far. The High Level Group has sought to resolve some of the long standing issues which have blocked progress in ICAO in the past. The discussions have been relatively constructive to date and we are hopeful that new text on addressing aviation emissions through a basket of measures, including market based measures will be adopted at the General Assembly.

Biofuels

Jeremy Lefroy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  how many jobs have been created in the biofuels industry as a result of the Renewable Energy Directive's requirement to create 10 per cent of transport energy from renewable energy;
	(2)  what assessment he has made of the effect of the biofuels industry on UK economic growth.

Norman Baker: Consideration of the impact on growth and employment of the Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation will be included in an assessment of the Obligation which we will conduct later this year.
	‘Advanced Biofuels: The Potential for a UK Industry, NNFCC 11-011’ was published in November 2011. The study, commissioned by the Department of Energy and Climate Change and the Department for Transport, estimated that strong development of advanced biofuels could create up to 6000 full-time construction jobs and over 2000 permanent jobs supplying and operating the plants by 2020.
	According to recent industry figures it has been estimated that the biofuels sector sustains approximately 3,500 jobs. (REA/Innovas: ‘Renewable Energy: Made in Britain’, 23 April 2012).

Bridges: River Thames

Jim Fitzpatrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many meetings have been held between representatives of his Department and representatives of (a) the Department for Transport and (b) Transport for London to discuss East London river crossings in the last six months.

Stephen Hammond: In the last six months there have been no specific meetings to discuss East London river crossings. Departmental officials meet regularly with Transport for London representatives to discuss a range of policy and funding issues; some meetings have included brief discussion on the subject.

Bus Services: Corby

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) overall and (b) unit cost is of providing free bus travel to pensioners in Corby constituency.

Norman Baker: The Government does not hold information regarding the cost of providing free bus travel to pensioners for individual Parliamentary constituencies. The Department for Transport carries out annual surveys of local authorities which are Travel Concession Authorities (TCAs) and the information for spending by individual TCAs, including Northamptonshire, on concessionary travel is published in Table BUS0812b on the Government's web site at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/concessionary-travel-statistics-england-2011-12-and-2012-13

Bus Services: Corby

Andy Sawford: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate his Department has made of the (a) total and (b) unit cost of providing free bus travel to 16 to 18 years olds in education or training in Corby constituency.

Norman Baker: There is no statutory bus travel concession for young people, although local authorities may decide to offer concessionary travel to young people on a discretionary basis.
	The Government does not hold information regarding the cost of providing free bus travel to 16 to 18 year olds for individual Parliamentary constituencies. However, the Department for Transport carries out annual surveys of local authorities which are Travel Concession Authorities (TCAs) and the information for individual TCAs which enhance their concessionary travel schemes to provide some form of discretionary concession for young people is published in Table BUS0841 on the Government's web site. Information about concessions offered on a commercial basis by bus operators in individual TCAs is published in Table BUS0842. Both tables can be found at the following link:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/concessionary-travel-statistics-england-2011-12-and-2012-13

Cycling

Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps the Government is taking to encourage commuters to cycle to work.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport actively encourages sustainable travel including cycling to work. The Cycle to Work Scheme provides tax incentives to help employees purchase bicycles and equipment. Alongside this, we work in partnership with Business in the Community, Transport for London, British Cycling and the Cycle to Work Alliance through the website ‘Businesscycle'. The aim is to increase cycling for work and commuting purposes.
	We have also made available £14.5m to the Cycle Rail Working Group to improve cycle facilities at railway stations. Improvement projects will not only make it safer and more convenient for people to park their bike at the station but will encourage cycling for the onward journey from the station with new cycle hire schemes. This helps support the Department's recently published Door to Door Strategy which encourages use of sustainable transport for the whole journey.

Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much funding (a) his Department and (b) each of the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible has allocated to the London Borough of Havering in each of the last five years.

Norman Baker: The most recent data available for total public expenditure on transport are given in HM Treasury's Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses for 2011/12.
	Identifiable expenditure on transport in the London region for the last 5 years is reproduced below. Equivalent data are not available below regional level.
	
		
			 £ million 
			  National Statistics 
			  Outturn 
			 Transport: 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 London 4,756 4,621 5,801 5,207 5,282 
			 Of which: current      
			 London 2,445 1,822 2,219 1,864 1,857 
			 Of which: capital      
			 London 2,311 2,800 3,582 3,343 3,425

Local Government Finance: Transport

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the value of awards to local authorities in England under the Local Sustainable Transport Fund was in 2012-13.

Norman Baker: In 2012-13, through the Local Sustainable Transport Fund we awarded local authorities £110.5 million revenue and £101 million capital funding.

Members: Correspondence

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to answer the letter from the hon. Member for Houghton and Sunderland South dated 21 January 2013.

Norman Baker: The Department for Transport does not have a record of receiving a letter from the hon. Member dated 21 January 2013, but we will be pleased to respond speedily if she could provide a copy.

Polyisobutene

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent correspondence he has had with the International Maritime Organisation on the reclassification of polyisobutene.

Stephen Hammond: None. However officials at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency have had initial, informal discussions with the International Maritime Organization Secretariat on the classification of polyisobutene (PIB) following the recent incidents off the South Coast.

Polyisobutene

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the (a) cause and (b) source of the recent polyisobutene pollution incidents was.

Stephen Hammond: Officials at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency are analysing data that show which vessels transited the area where it is estimated that the discharges could have taken place. That may help to determine the source of the pollution and allow further investigation to assess whether the discharge was permissible or whether there may be a case to take action against an unlawful discharge.

Polyisobutene

Sarah Wollaston: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what steps he is taking to prevent further seabird deaths as a result of polyisobutene pollution resulting from both legal and illegal discharges at sea.

Stephen Hammond: Once the full reasons for the incidents are established, the UK will, if appropriate, formally approach International Maritime Organisation to discuss the discharge requirements for products carried on chemical tankers.

Private Finance Initiative

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which private finance initiative projects relating to his Department have been refinanced in each year since May 2010; what the value is of each such project; what the refinancing gain has been in each such case; and how much any such gain the relevant Government body received through a (a) lump sum and (b) reduction in the unitary charge.

Norman Baker: None of the private finance projects sponsored by the Department for Transport has been refinanced since May 2010.

Railways: Bournemouth

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport which organisation is responsible for keeping the tracks running through Bournemouth railway station free of litter.

Norman Baker: Network Rail.

Railways: Fares

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to publish his review of rail fares.

Norman Baker: We are considering a range of options to improve rail fares and ticketing, and we intend to set out our findings and next steps this summer.

Railways: Fares

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what recent representations he has received on the cost of rail fares.

Norman Baker: Since January 2013, the Department has received around 700 items of correspondence from MPs, members of the public and other bodies about rail fares. The subject has also been discussed in a number of meetings with industries and interested parties.

Railways: Finance

Kelvin Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list the total annual amounts paid in track access charges to Network Rail by each train operating company contracted to provide rail passenger services since April 2004.

Simon Burns: The data requested refer to transactions between private train operating companies and Network Rail which is not held by the Department. However, information for recent years is contained within Network Rail's Regulatory Financial Statements which are available on their website at:
	http://www.networkrail.co.uk/browse%20documents/regulatory%20documents/regulatory%20 compliance%20and%20reporting/regulatory%20accounts/regulatory%20financial%20statements%20for%20the%20year %20ended%2031%20march%202012.pdf

Railways: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will take steps to ensure that Romford station will be served by National Rail fast trains into London Liverpool Street and Essex once existing metro services are replaced by Crossrail services.

Simon Burns: It is expected that Romford station will continue to be served by National Rail fast trains into London Liverpool Street and Essex once metro services are transferred to Crossrail.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department.

Stephen Hammond: The information is as follows:
	(a) All regulations introduced by the Department are monitored and examined through the Government's rigorous Better Regulation processes, which are described in full at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/policies/reducing-the-impact-of-regulation-on-business
	All UK regulation that impacts on business and civil society organisations is listed on Department for Transport's (DFT's) statements of new regulation (SNR). These cover all regulations planned to be implemented or removed in six month periods (January to June and July to December each year) and are published on the website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-transport-statement-of-new-regulations
	(b) Information on costs and benefits of the regulations we introduce is assessed and recorded in impact assessments (IAs) which are published alongside the regulations on the
	www.legislation.gov.uk
	website. The information is collated in the SNR.
	(c) DFT had four themes under the Red Tape Challenge programme—Road Transportation, Rail, Maritime and Aviation. Alongside internal government review of the body of regulations in these areas, this invited businesses and the public to suggest which regulations should be revoked or improved.
	Since December 2011, new regulations have been subject to a sunsetting policy to ensure they are kept under regular review. Details of the policy can be found at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sunset-clauses-and-regulations
	As a matter of good practice most IAs outline arrangements for post implementation review even for regulations where statutory review clauses do not apply.
	(d) Each Red Tape Challenge (RTC) theme had a period in the spotlight on the RTC website but it was also made clear that contributions and suggestions from businesses and the public on burdensome regulation were welcome outside that period. That remains the case.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended.

Stephen Hammond: The one in one out rule was introduced in September 2010 and applied to regulations introduced from 1 January 2011. One in two out replaced this rule and has applied to regulations introduced since January 2013. The Statement of New Regulation published every six months lists regulatory changes that are subject to the one in one out/one in two out rule. This includes the introduction of new regulations and amendments and revocations of existing regulations. The following regulations that were listed on the statements have been introduced.
	
		
			 Title Number In Force 
			 Airport Bylaws (Designation) Order 2011 2011 No. 828 13 April 2011 
			 Aerodromes (Designation) (Detention and Sale of Aircraft) (England and Wales) (Amendment) Order 2011 2011 No. 832 13 April 2011 
			 Equality Act 2010 (Work on Ships and Hovercraft) Regulations 2011 2011 No. 1771 1 August 2011 
			 Vehicle Drivers (Certificates of Professional Competence) (Amendment) Regulations 2011 2011 No. 2324 18 October 2011 
			 Carriage of Dangerous Goods and Use of Transportable Pressure Equipment (Amendment) Regulations 2011 2011 No. 1885 24 October 2011 
			 Goods Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 2011 2011 No. 2633 4 December 2011 
			 Public Service Vehicles (Community Licences) Regulations 2011 2011 No. 2634 4 December 2011 
			 Road Transport Operator Regulations 2011 2011 No. 2632 4 December 2011 
			 Disabled Persons (Badges for Motor Vehicles) (England) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2011 2011 No. 2675 1 December 2011 
			 M25 Motorway (Junctions 2 to 3) (Variable Speed Limits) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 104 10 February 2012 
			 Goods Vehicles (Licensing of Operators) (Fees) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 308 1 April 2012 
			 Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 977 20 April 2012 
		
	
	
		
			 M62 Motorway (Junctions 25 to 30) (Actively Managed Hard Shoulder and Variable Speed Limits) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 1865 20 August 2012 
			 The Port Security (Port of Aberdeen) Designation Order 2012 2012 No. 2607 19 November 2012 
			 The Port Security (Port of Workington) Designation Order 2012 2012 No. 2611 19 November 2012 
			 The Port Security (Port of Grangemouth) Designation Order 2012 2012 No. 2608 19 November 2012 
			 The Port Security (Port of Tees and Hartlepool) Designation Order 2012 2012 No. 2610 19 November 2012 
			 The Port Security (Port of Portland) Designation Order 2012 2012 No. 2609 19 November 2012 
			 Motor Vehicles (Tests) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 2652 18 November 2012 
			 Motor Fuel (Road Vehicle and Mobile Machinery) Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reporting Regulations 2012 2012 No. 3030 1 January 2013 
			 Merchant Shipping (Carriage of Passengers by Sea) Regulations 2012 2012 No. 3152 31 December 2012 
			 Public Bodies (Abolition of the Railway Heritage Committee) Order 2013 2013 No. 64 29 October 2013 
			 Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) Regulations 2013 2013 No. 258 8 March 2013 
			 Motor Vehicles (Driving Licences) (Amendment) (No.2) Regulations 2013 2013 No. 1013 1 June 2013 
			 Road Vehicles (Testing) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013 2013 No. 271 20 March 2013 
			 Greater Manchester (Light Rapid Transit System) (Exemptions) Order 2013 2013 No. 339 1 April 2013 
			 Channel Tunnel (Safety) (Amendment) Order 2013 2013 No. 407 (1)— 
			 Merchant Shipping (Passengers' Rights) Regulations 2013 2013 No. 425 27 March 2013 
			 Operation of Air Services in the Community (Pricing etc.) Regulations 2013 2013 No. 486 5 April 2013 
			 Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations (Amendment) Order 2013 2013 No. 816 (1)— 
			 Railways and Other Guided Transport Systems (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013 2013 No. 950 1 June 2013 
			 Rights of Passengers in Bus and Coach Transport (Exemptions) Regulations 2013 2013 No. 228 21 May 2013 
			 (1) Come into force in accordance with article 1 in the regulations.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were.

Stephen Hammond: All changes to UK regulation in scope of the one in, one out and one in, two out rules (i.e. those that impact on business and civil society organisations) are listed, along with their estimated impact on business as validated by the independent Regulatory Policy Committee, on the Statements of New Regulation (SNRs). This includes the introduction of new regulations and amendments and revocations of existing regulations, divided up into six month periods (January to June and July to December each year). The answer to PQ155826 provides a list of titles of regulatory changes that have come into force. DFT’s SNRs are published on the website:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/department-for-transport-statement-of-new-regulations
	The one in, one out rule was introduced on 1 September 2010 and applied to regulations introduced from 1 January 2011. One in, Two out replaced the one in, one out rule and has applied to regulations introduced from 1 January 2013.
	As well as being collated in the SNR, information on the costs and benefits of the regulations we introduce is assessed and recorded in impact assessments (IAs) which are published alongside the regulations on the following website:
	www.legislation.gov.uk

Roads: Carbon Emissions

Luciana Berger: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of how much the carbon footprint of the UK's roads could be reduced through the sustainable production of asphalt at lower temperatures over the next 10 years;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of how much the production of asphalt contributes to the annual carbon footprint of the UK's roads.

Norman Baker: As part of the Highways Agency's carbon reporting, asphalt purchased by its supply chain for use on the Strategic Road Network estimates the production of asphalt contributes a little over 11% of the average annual reported carbon footprint of the Highways Agency, excluding traffic. It should be noted that the traffic loads on the strategic road network does not allow them at present to use cold asphalt.
	The Department for Transport does not retain similar information for local highway authority roads.

Roads: Plymouth

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how much Plymouth City Council received from his Department for highway maintenance in 2012-13; and how much his Department has allocated to Plymouth City Council for highway maintenance in 2013-14.

Norman Baker: The funding the Department for Transport is providing to Plymouth City Council for highways maintenance in 2012/13 and 2013/14 is as follows:
	
		
			 Financial Year £ million 
			 2012-13 2.183 
			 2013-14 2.498 
		
	
	Local authorities are also able to use revenue funding, allocated by the Department of Communities and Local Government through the Revenue Support Grant for maintaining their local highways.
	Neither capital nor revenue highways maintenance block funding is ring-fenced and it is for local highway authorities to decide upon their spending priorities across the whole range of services that they provide.

Roads: Romford

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many fatalities there have been as a result of road traffic accidents involving motorcyclists, cyclists and pedestrians in Romford constituency in the last five years.

Stephen Hammond: In the last five years in Romford constituency there have been the following numbers of fatalities in road traffic accidents:
	
		
			 Number of fatalities in accidents involving 
			  Motorcyclists Cyclists Pedestrians 
			 2007 1 0 3 
			 2008 0 0 0 
			 2009 0 0 1 
			 2010 0 0 0 
			 2011 0 0 3 
			 Note: Constituency boundary as at 2010 
		
	
	Data for the year 2012 will be available in June 2013.

Transport: Yorkshire and the Humber

Andrew Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what spending on transport infrastructure in Yorkshire and the Humber was in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Norman Baker: The most recent data available for total public expenditure on transport are given in HM Treasury's ‘Public Expenditure Statistical Analyses’ for 2011/12.
	The information requested is shown in the following table. This includes a split between current and capital expenditure for all years.
	
		
			 Identifiable transport expenditure in Yorkshire and the Humber, 2009/10, 2010/11, 2011/12 
			 £ million 
			 Financial year Total expenditure of which: Capital of which: Current 
			 2009/10 1,482 801 681 
			 2010/11 1,393 774 619 
			 2011/12 1,326 730 596

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Anaerobic Digestion

James Paice: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many crop-only anaerobic digestion plants have (a) been awarded feed-in tariffs, (b) applied for feed-in tariffs and (c) been rejected for feed-in tariffs in the last five years.

Gregory Barker: We do not hold information on which AD plants are crop only as part of the feed-in tariffs scheme which has been operational since April 2010. AD plants may use crops as part of a crop/waste mix although the split between the amounts of crops/waste used may vary from week to week.

Climate Change

David Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change for what reason his Department relies on the Met Office's assessment of the probability in relation to global temperatures of a linear trend with first-order autoregressive noise rather than a driftless third-order autoregressive integrated model.

Gregory Barker: The Met Office is one of Government's key advisory institutions on climate science, which undertakes climate research and modelling and provides advice on technical questions related to climate, to the Department. Global temperatures, along with other aspects of the climate system, are primarily assessed using physically-based mathematical models, rather than statistical models.

Clothing

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible have made a claim for evening dress allowance in each of the last five years; and what the total cost of such claims has been.

Gregory Barker: There have been no claims by officials of (a) the Department of Energy and Climate Change or (b) its non-departmental public bodies for evening dress allowance.

Energy

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what recent discussions his Department has had with energy providers on industry-supported helplines and Welsh language provision.

Gregory Barker: The Department has not had any recent discussions with energy providers on industry-supported helplines and Welsh language provision.

Energy: Disconnections

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change 
	(1)  what recent estimate he has made of the number of households in the UK who have been disconnected by their gas supplier in the last 12 months;
	(2)  what recent assessment he has made of the number of households in the UK who have been disconnected by their electricity supplier in the last 12 months.

Gregory Barker: Ofgem monitors and publishes information about disconnections of domestic electricity supplies in its Domestic Supplies Quarterly Debt and Disconnection reports:
	http://www.ofgem.gov.uk/Sustainability/SocAction/Monitoring/SoObMonitor/Pages/SocObMonitor.aspx
	The following tables show the number of disconnections of domestic electricity and gas supplies due to debt during 12 month period of Q2 and Q1 of 2012, Q4 and Q3 of 2011, the latest figures to be published.
	
		
			 Disconnection of electricity supplies 
			 Quarter period Number of disconnections 
			 Q2 of 2012 138 
			 Q1 of 2012 26 
			 Q4 of 2011 83 
			 Q3 of 2011 419 
		
	
	
		
			 Disconnection of gas supplies 
			 Quarter period Number of disconnections 
			 Q2 of 2012 33 
			 Q1 of 2012 2 
			 Q4 of 2011 38 
			 Q3 of 2011 128

Green Deal Scheme: North East

Guy Opperman: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the rollout of the Green Deal in the North East.

Gregory Barker: The latest Green Deal and Energy Company Obligation monthly statistics, as released on 14 May 2013, reported that there were 18,816 Green Deal Assessments lodged in Great Britain up to the end of April 2013:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-deal-and-energy-company-obligation-eco-monthly-statistics-may-2013
	DECC will publish, on 27 June 2013, our first quarterly Official Statistics publication which will contain more detailed analysis of Green Deal Assessments lodged up to the end of March. This will include geographic breakdowns.

Hydrofluorocarbons

Barry Gardiner: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs about the implementation of the Montreal protocol and a strategy to reduce HFCs.

Gregory Barker: The UK is fully supportive of action through the Montreal protocol to phase-down HFCs. DEFRA is the lead Department for the implementation of the Montreal protocol. The UK is also working through the Department to secure a call from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on the Montreal protocol to phase-down the production and consumption of HFCs. DEFRA and DECC officials are working closely together on this issue. There has been no direct discussion between the respective Secretaries of State.
	Given the importance of this issue and the emissions reduction potential, the UK also supports efforts to phase-down HFCs through a wide range of other fora such as the G8, G20 and the Climate and Clean Air Coalition.

ICT

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many (a) computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) BlackBerrys and (d) other pieces of IT equipment were lost or stolen from his Department in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Gregory Barker: The following items were lost or stolen during:
	
		
			 2010-11 
			  Number 
			 Computers (including laptops) 5 
			 Mobile phones 3 
			 BlackBerry 12 
			 Other IT equipment 0 
		
	
	
		
			 2011-12 
			  Number 
			 Computers (including laptops) 10 
			 Mobile phones 1 
			 BlackBerry 17 
			 Other IT equipment 0 
		
	
	
		
			 2012-13 
			  Number 
			 Computers (including laptops) 5 
			 Mobile phones 0 
			 BlackBerry 9 
			 Other IT equipment 0 
		
	
	All computers and BlackBerrys lost were encrypted to protect Government information.

Procurement

David Mowat: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what steps he is taking to ensure that procurement and tendering processes run by his Department give a high priority to the improvement and retention of local specialist skills.

Gregory Barker: The Department of Energy and Climate Change procurement policies aim to ensure transparency, fairness, non-discrimination and value for money in accordance with Cabinet Office policy and legal requirements.
	There is no specific requirement for policy teams to consider and include the improvement and retention of local skills within the scope of procurements, although they may become part of larger value contract service requirements through the promotion of apprenticeships and skills training.

Renewable Energy

Caroline Flint: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change what assessment he has made of the remit of the local energy assessment fund; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Fallon: The Local Energy Assessment Fund (LEAF) ran from December 2011 to March 2012.
	The project, which provided £10 million grant funding to support 236 early stage community energy projects, covering energy efficiency, electricity and heat, is currently being evaluated. This independent evaluation is examining the outputs achieved through LEAF funding and distilling lessons learned, which can be shared with other community energy projects, and inform future policy in this area. We expect to publish in summer 2013.
	Initial feedback from LEAF-funded renewables projects has been used to inform the design of the forthcoming £15 million DEFRA/DECC rural renewable energy fund (for England). This is due to be launched shortly.

Travel

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many officials in (a) his Department and (b) the non-departmental public bodies for which he is responsible claimed reimbursement for travel subsistence expenses in each of the last five years; what the total cost was of such claims; and what the monetary value was of the 20 highest subsistence claims in each such year.

Gregory Barker: Neither the Department of Energy and Climate Change nor its non-departmental public bodies keeps a central record of the number of individual staff claiming travel and subsistence.
	We are able to provide the number and value of claims recorded from 2008-13, as shown in the following table for (a) core-DECC and (b) DECC's NDPBs (excluding the Committee on Climate Change).
	
		
			  Core DECC NDPBs(1) 
			 Period Total claims (number) Amount (£000) Top 20 (£000) Total claims (number) Amount (£000) Top 20 (£000) 
			 2008-09 249 18 10 670 1,983 44 
			 2009-10 392 68 29 774 1,786 38 
			 2010-11 336 46 19 784 1,566 23 
			 2011-12 327 35 15 962 1,922 40 
			 2012-13 697 151 43 1,101 1,856 36 
			 (1) NDPBs' Total number of claims and “Top 20” relate to NDA and CNPA only. 
		
	
	The Committee on Climate Change's travel and subsistence data are published in their Annual Reports as follows:
	2009-10—(page 45)
	http://archive.theccc.org.uk/aws2/Annual%20Report/CCC-AnnualReport-2010-web.pdf
	2010-11
	http://archive.theccc.org.uk/aws2/Annual%20Report%20&%20Accounts%202011/1427_CCC-AnnualReport-2010_6_bookmarks.pdf
	2011-12—(page 40)
	http://archive.theccc.org.uk/aws/corporate%202012/CCC_Annual%20Report%202012_Final.pdf
	2012-13
	Not yet available.

DEFENCE

Afghanistan

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what estimate he has made of the number of people killed in unmanned aerial vehicle strikes in Afghanistan in each of the last three years.

Andrew Robathan: While we investigate carefully all alleged incidents involving UK forces from whatever cause, the Government do not record total figures for insurgent or civilian casualties in Afghanistan because of the immense difficulty and risks that would be involved in collecting robust data.

Afghanistan and Iraq

Julian Huppert: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many minors have been deployed to (a) Afghanistan and (b) Iraq since the start of British military operations in those countries.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence can only provide information for the period after the implementation of the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system in 2007. Pre-JPA data could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	No such deployment has taken place since 2010. In the period 2007-10, a total of seven personnel, who were all 17 years old, were confirmed as having entered an area of operations, four on Op Telic, Iraq and three on Op Herrick, Afghanistan. We take immediate action to correct any breach of our policy as soon as it is discovered.

Armed Forces: Apprentices

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  with reference to the answer of 22 April 2013, Official Report, column 612W, on armed forces: apprentices, how many armed forces personnel completed military apprenticeships as a proportion of the total strength of each service in academic year (a) 2009-10, (b) 2010-11 and (c) 2011-12;
	(2)  with reference to the answer of 22 April 2013, Official Report, column 611W, on armed forces: apprentices, how many armed forces personnel completed apprenticeships to level (a) two and (b) three as a proportion of the total strength of each service in (i) academic year 2009-10, (ii) academic year 2010-11 and (iii) academic year 2011-12.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 20 May 2013
	Apprenticeship completions by service, level and year, and by proportion of total strength, are shown in the following table:
	
		
			 Apprenticeships completed 2009-10 Proportion of strength (%) 2010-11 Proportion of strength (%) 2011-12 Proportion of strength (%) 
			 Level 2       
			 RN (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 2,182 6.6 
			 Army (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 4,507 4.6 
			 RAF (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 764 2.0 
			 Total 9,874 5.6 9,836 5.6 7,453 4.4 
			        
		
	
	
		
			 Level 3       
			 RN (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 339 1.0 
			 Army (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 1,682 1.7 
			 RAF (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 655 1.7 
			 Total 2,065 1.2 2,173 1.2 2,676 1.6 
			        
			 Level 2/3       
			 RN (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 2,521 7.6 
			 Army (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 6,189 6.3 
			 RAF (1)— (1)— (1)— (1)— 1,419 3.7 
			 Total 11,939 6.7 12,009 6.8 10,129 6.0 
			 (1 )Figures by service are not available prior to 2011-12.

Armed Forces: Disciplinary Proceedings

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 22 April 2013, Official Report, column 613W, on armed forces: disciplinary proceedings, 
	(1)  of the appeals against both finding and punishment, how many have resulted in the (a) finding being changed and (b) sentence being changed; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  of the appeals against punishments, how many have resulted in the punishment being (a) altered and (b) quashed; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The requested further breakdown of the data is provided in the following tables:
	
		
			  Appeals against finding and punishment Finding quashed Punishment only changed 
			 2005 120 39 23 
			 2006 98 37 13 
			 2007 91 25 10 
			 2008 68 21 3 
			 2009 47 14 4 
			 2010 20 7 3 
			 2011 31 11 2 
			 2012 32 15 7 
		
	
	
		
			  Appeals against punishment only Punishment changed Punishment quashed 
			 2005 192 81 11 
			 2006 127 57 3 
			 2007 88 44 2 
			 2008 53 27 3 
			 2009 85 33 1 
			 2010 85 50 6 
			 2011 86 49 6 
			 2012 65 42 4 
		
	
	In the course of preparing this answer, some inaccuracies have emerged. I refer the hon. Member to the answer the Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), gave on 22 April 2013, Official Report, column 613W. In that table, two appeals dating from 2005 were omitted, and some data on outcomes were mis-categorised. A corrected version of the table is given in the following table:
	
		
			 Tri-Service Summary Hearing Appeals 2005-12 
			  Appeals against finding and punishment Appeals against punishment only Finding changed (ie quashed) Punishment changed (ie quashed or altered) 
			 2005 120 192 39 115 
			 2006 98 127 37 73 
			 2007 91 88 25 56 
			 2008 68 53 21 33 
			 2009 47 85 14 38 
			 2010 20 85 7 59 
			 2011 31 86 11 57 
			 2012 32 65 15 53

Armed Forces: Health Services

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what rights are in place to ensure his Department's personnel are treated within 18 weeks, in line with the NHS constitution, if commissioned by his Department.

Mark Francois: The treatment of military personnel aligns with NHS arrangements for the treatment of civilians. Armed forces personnel have the same constitutional right to the standard NHS timeframe of 18-weeks referral to treatment in accordance with the NHS Constitution dated 26 March 2013, published by the Department of Health.
	Where there is an operational or occupational requirement, the Ministry of Defence secures higher levels of access from specified NHS Trusts or independent providers.
	Up until April 2013 armed forces personnel could only be identified by NHS providers who hosted MOD hospital units. However, in line with the revised NHS Commissioning Strategy, the MOD has been working with NHS England, using NHS Connectivity, to introduce a system to identify all armed forces personnel.
	The MOD has a close working relationship with the UK Departments of Health at both strategic and working levels to ensure, in line with the armed forces covenant, military personnel and their dependants receive the healthcare they are entitled to—at no disadvantage.

Armed Forces: Private Education

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  (a) for which schools continuity of education allowance was claimed and (b) to which schools that allowance was paid to in each of the last three years;
	(2)  how much his Department has spent on private school fees; and for how many individuals such fees have been paid in each year since 2009.

Andrew Robathan: Continuity of education allowance is paid to eligible service personnel to facilitate a stable education for their children from the age of eight. It is not paid to schools. The information is not held in the format requested.

Armed Forces: Private Education

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on private school fees for the children of commissioned officers in the armed services in each year since 2010.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 20 May 2013
	Continuity of education allowance (CEA) is an allowance available to personnel of all ranks who are eligible to claim it. As it is not possible to separate out payments for children who attend private schools from those at maintained schools, except at disproportionate cost, the answer reflects the annual totals of CEA paid to officers. The information requested is set out in the following table:
	
		
			 CEA paid to commissioned officers(1) 
			 Financial year £ millions 
			 2010-11 74.0 
			 2011-12 72.2 
			 2012-13 65.8 
			 (1) Some recipients included in the data for later years will have received CEA payments in earlier years as non-commissioned ranks. 
		
	
	It is worth remembering that this allowance is open to all eligible personnel, officers and other ranks. Of the current CEA claimant community around 50% were, or currently are, other ranks.

Armed Forces: Qualifications

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the average length of service is before attaining level 2 qualifications in the Army, Navy and Royal Air Force.

Andrew Robathan: The overall policy aim is that all personnel are qualified to level 2 within eight years. Where service personnel are engaged on an apprenticeship scheme they will achieve level 2 upon completion of their course. Some will enter the services already having achieved level 2 qualifications, but unless these form part of the entry requirement for their chosen specialist trade, this will not be recorded. This means that sufficient data to calculate an average length of service are not held.

Armed Forces: Rape

Pamela Nash: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many allegations of rape in the armed forces have resulted in prosecutions in each of the last three years.

Andrew Robathan: The Ministry of Defence takes all reports of sexual offences very seriously.
	The following table shows the number of cases of rape reported by members of the armed forces which resulted in prosecution by the Service Prosecuting Authority since 1 January 2010:
	
		
			  Rape referrals Directed for trial Conviction 
			 2010 6 1 0 
			 2011 4 2 1 
			 2012 9(1) 5(2) 2 
			 (1 )One yet to be decided for trial. (2) Three awaiting trial in 2012, tried in early2013. 
		
	
	A case referred in any one year may be directed for trial, and the trial held, in a later year.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence with reference to the answer of 10 April 2013, Official Report, columns 1229-30W, on armed forces: sexual offences, what the (a) average length of an investigation is and (b) start date of each case was; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, my right hon. Friend the Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), will write to the hon. Member shortly.

Armed Forces: Sexual Offences

Madeleine Moon: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many allegations of (a) rape, (b) sexual assault and (c) assault by penetration against members of the armed forces have been reported by civilians to the service police in each year since 2005; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: The following table details the number of allegations of rape, sexual assault and assault by penetration against members of the armed forces reported by civilians to service police in each year since the implementation of the Armed Forces Act 2006 on 1 November 2009 to 31 December 2012.
	
		
			  Rape Sexual assault by penetration Sexual assault 
			 2009 3 0 1 
			 2010 15 3 9 
			 2011 11 4 13 
			 2012 9 2 7 
			 Total 38 9 30 
		
	
	The term ‘civilians’ here include civilian dependants of service personnel, together with civilians unconnected with HM forces.
	The data provided are based on information recorded by the service and shows cases where the service police have jurisdiction and the investigative lead. It does not, therefore, include cases which have been dealt with by the civilian police, including the Ministry of Defence Police, for which only limited information is held.
	The rape figures comprise allegations of sections 1 and 5 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003, section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 1956 and inchoate offences.

Daniel Nightingale

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the total cost to his Department has been of legal proceedings in respect of Sergeant Danny Nightingale up to the end of March 2013; what the estimated costs are of the current proceedings against Sergeant Nightingale; and if he will make a statement.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 13 May 2013
	There is no separately identifiable internal cost to the Ministry of Defence for the Nightingale case. The total external costs of appointing external counsel for legal proceedings to the end of March 2013 in respect of the case of Sergeant Nightingale are in the region of £8,000. The anticipated cost of the current proceedings is between £5,000 and £7,000. All costs are exclusive of VAT.

Guided Weapons

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about SPEAR (3) in relation to (a) Typhoon and (b) F35.

Philip Dunne: SPEAR Cap 3, an air-to-surface capability for the joint strike fighter (JSF), is currently in its assessment phase. As part of SPEAR Cap 3 development onto JSF there is a requirement to trial and demonstrate the missile on a similar platform. Typhoon will be used for these trials.

Pensions

Alan Reid: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will place in the Library a copy of the calculations which estimated the cost of (a) making the normal pension age 60 years for members of the Defence Fire and Rescue Service and the Ministry of Defence Police and (b) a potential average increase in pension contributions for these members of staff; and which organisation carried out these calculations.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 15 May 2013
	I am withholding the information requested as it relates to the formation or development of Government policy. The normal pension ages of both the Defence Fire and Rescue Service and Ministry of Defence Police are currently under review in accordance with Clause 36 of the Public Sector Pensions Act 2013. This review of our current policy should be completed by the end of the year.

Procurement

Charlotte Leslie: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guidance his Department issues regarding the employment of outgoing civil servants by private employers with whom his Department has a contractual relationship.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 16 May 2013
	It is right that those with experience in government should be able to move into business or other areas of public life, but it is equally important that, in the taking up of an appointment, there is no cause for suspicion of impropriety.
	The Ministry of Defence (MOD) is committed to upholding the Business Appointment Rules for civil servants which can be accessed using the following website:
	http://acoba.independent.gov.uk/
	This document sets out the circumstances in which officials should seek permission to take up an external role. MOD policy on this issue is available to all staff via the internal website.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department.

Andrew Robathan: None of the regulations made by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) since May 2010 impose a regulatory burden on business. The regulations put in place by the MOD are almost entirely for the internal administration of the Armed Forces and Defence assets. Requests for changes to them come from the appropriate MOD and armed forces policy branches.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one in one out and (ii) one in two out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended.

Andrew Robathan: The one in, one out rule was introduced on 1 September 2010 and applied to regulations introduced from 1 January 2011. All Ministry of Defence (MOD) regulations are related to internal administration of defence.
	The one in, two out rule replaced the one in, one out rule and applies to regulations introduced from 1 January 2013. All MOD regulations are related to internal administration of defence.
	Regulations introduced by month since May 2010 are as follows:
	May 2010
	The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) Burghfield Byelaws 2010—SI 2010/249
	August 2010
	The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) (Amendment) Order 2010—SI 2010/1723
	November 2010
	The Reserve Forces Act 1996 (Isle of Man) Regulations 2010—SI 2010/2643
	The Reserve Forces Appeal Tribunals (Isle of Man) Rules 2010—SI 2010/2644
	The Armed Forces Act (Continuation) Order 2010—SI 2010/2475
	December 2010
	The Visiting Forces (Designation) Order 2010—SI 2010/2970
	February 2011
	The Armed Forces Redundancy Schemes 2006 and the Armed Forces Redundancy Etc. Schemes 2010 (Amendment) Order 2011—SI 2011/208
	April 2011
	The Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme (Amendment) Order 2011—SI 2011/811
	The Naval, Military and Air Forces Etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions (Amendment) Order 2011—SI 2011/235
	May 2011
	The Pensions Appeal Tribunals Act 1943 (Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme) (Rights of Appeal) Regulations 2011—SI 2011/1240
	The Pensions Appeal Tribunals Act 1943 (Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme) (Time Limit for Appeals) (Amendment) Regulations 2011—SI 2011/1239
	The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) Order 2011—SI 2011/517
	The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Trading Fund Order 2011—SI 2011/1330
	June 2011
	The Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2005 (Amendment) Order 2011—SI 2011/1364
	July 2011
	The Armed Forces (Terms of Service) (Amendment) Regulations 2011—SI 2011/1523
	Harbours, Docks, Piers and Ferries—The Clyde Dockyard Port of Gareloch and Loch Long Order 2011—SI 2011/1680
	August 2011
	The Thetford Range Byelaws 2011—SI 2011/1142
	The Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011—SI 2011/1848
	October 2011
	The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Armed Forces) (Amendment) Order 2011—SI 2011/2282
	November 2011
	The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) (Amendment) Order 2011—SI 2011/2552
	January 2012
	The Armed Forces Redundancy Scheme 2006, The Armed Forces Redundancy Etc. Schemes 2010 And The Armed Forces Pension Scheme 2005 (Amendment) Order 2011—SI 2011/3013
	April 2012
	The Armed Forces Act 2011 (Commencement No. 1, Transitional and Transitory Provisions) Order 2012—SI 2012/669 (C.15)
	The Ministry of Defence Police (Performance) Regulations 2012—SI 2012/808
	The Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme (Amendment) Order 2012—SI 2012/670
	The Northwood Headquarters Byelaws 2011—SI 2011/3102
	June 2012
	The Protection of Military Remains Act 1986 (Designation of Vessels And Controlled Sites) Order 2012—SI 2012/1110
	July 2012
	The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) (Amendment) Order 2012—SI 2012/1573
	September 2012
	The Armed Forces (Enhanced Learning Credit Scheme and Further and Higher Education Commitment Scheme) Order 2012—SI 2012/1796
	The Ot Moor Range Byelaws 2012—SI 2012/1478
	October 2012
	The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (Armed Forces) (Amendment) Order 2012—SI 2012/2505
	November 2012
	The Armed Forces Act (Continuation) Order 2012—SI 2012/1750
	December 2012
	The Armed Forces Act 2011 (Commencement No. 2) Order—SI 2012/2921 (C.116)
	The Armed Forces (Powers of Stop and Search, Search, Seizure and Retention) Order 2012—SI 2012/2919
	April 2013
	The Armed Forces Act 2011 (Commencement No. 3) Order 2013—SI 2013/784 (C.37)
	The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) (Consequential Provisions: Primary Legislation) Order 2013—SI 2013/796
	The Naval, Military and Air Forces Etc. (Disablement and Death) Service Pensions (Amendment) Order 2013—SI 2013/241
	The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces (Compensation Scheme) (Amendment) Order 2013—SI 2013/436
	The Armed Forces and Reserve Forces Compensation Scheme (Consequential Provisions: Subordinate Legislation) Order 2013—SI 2013/591
	The Personal Injuries (Civilians) Scheme (Amendment) Order 2013—SI 2013/707
	The Caversfield SFA Byelaws 2012—SI 2012/3088
	The Visiting Forces (Designation) Order 2013—SI 2013/540
	None. However, please note that each Armed Forces Act (Continuation) Order remains in force for one year only and the byelaws replace earlier versions.
	None, although the instruments mentioned above may amend earlier orders.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were.

Andrew Robathan: Regulations introduced, amended and revoked are a result of the regular updating and consolidation of departmental secondary legislation. They are prepared within existing departmental resources and do not have any external financial impact.

Reserve Forces

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many reserve units are currently based in (a) Scotland, (b) Northern Ireland, (c) Wales and (d) England; and what the location is of each such unit.

Andrew Robathan: There are some 142 reserve units in Scotland, 62 units in Northern Ireland, 47 in Wales and 696 units in England. The following lists detail the locations of these units, by service and UK country. Many locations have more than one unit.
	Royal Naval Reserve
	EnglandUnits
	Bristol
	Devonport
	Fleet
	Gateshead
	Liverpool
	London
	Northwood
	Nottingham
	Shefford
	Whale Island
	Yeovil
	Scotland Units
	Greenock
	Rosyth
	WalesUnits
	Sully
	Northern Ireland Units
	Lisburn
	Royal Marine Reserve
	England Units
	Bristol
	London
	Merseyside
	Newcastle Upon Tyne
	Plymouth
	Scotland Units
	Glasgow
	Army
	England Units/Sub Units
	Abingdon
	Aldershot
	Alnwick
	Altcar
	Ashford
	Ashington
	Ashton Under Lyne
	Aylesbury
	Banbury
	Barnsley
	Barnstaple
	Barrow-In-Furness
	Bath
	Bedford
	Berwick-Upon-Tweed
	Beverley
	Bexleyheath
	Bilborough
	Birkenhead
	Birmingham
	Bishop Auckland
	Blackburn
	Blackpool
	Bletchley
	Blyth
	Bodmin
	Bolton
	Bootle
	Bovington
	Bradford
	Bramley
	Brentwood
	Brighton
	Bristol
	Brize Norton
	Bulwell
	Burton-On-Trent
	Bury
	Bury St Edmunds
	Buxton
	Camberley
	Cambridge
	Cannock
	Canterbury
	Carlisle
	Chelmsford
	Chester
	Chesterfield
	Chilwell
	Chorley
	Cirencester
	Cobridge
	Colchester
	Corby
	Corsham
	Coulby Newham
	Coulsdon
	Coventry
	Cramlington
	Crawley
	Crewe
	Croydon
	Darlington
	Derby
	Digby
	Ditton
	Doncaster
	Donnington
	Dorchester
	Dover
	Dudley
	Durham
	Eastbourne
	Ellesmere Port
	Ewell
	Exeter
	Farnham
	Gateshead
	Gloucester
	Grantham
	Grimsby
	Hartlepool
	Headington
	Hebburn
	Hereford
	Hermitage
	Hertford
	Hexham
	Hilsea
	Hitchin
	Hornsey
	Huddersfield
	Hull
	Huyton
	Ilford
	Ipswich
	Islington
	Keighley
	Kidderminster
	Kingston Upon Hull
	Lancaster
	Leeds
	Leicester
	Lincoln
	Liverpool
	London
	Loughborough
	Lowestoft
	Luton
	Maidstone
	Manchester
	Mansfield
	Middle Wallop
	Middlesbrough
	Milton Keynes
	Newcastle
	Newport
	Newton Aycliffe
	Northallerton
	Northampton
	Norton
	Norwich
	Nottingham
	Oldbury
	Peterborough
	Plymouth
	Pontefract
	Poole
	Portsmouth
	Preston
	Prittlewell
	Pudsey
	Reading
	Redditch
	Redhill
	Reigate
	Rochester
	Rotherham
	Rugby
	Rusholme
	Salford
	Salisbury
	Scarborough
	Scunthorpe
	Sheffield
	Shrewsbury
	Southall
	Southampton
	Southfields
	St Helens
	Stockport
	Stoke On Trent
	Stourbridge
	Stratford-Upon-Avon
	Strensall
	Sunderland
	Sutton
	Swaffham
	Swindon
	Taunton
	Telford
	Thorney Island
	Truro
	Tunbridge Wells
	Tyne And Wear
	Tynemouth
	Upavon
	Uxbridge
	Wakefield
	Walker
	Walsall
	Washington
	Wattisham
	West Bromwich
	Westminster
	Widnes
	Wigan
	Wigston
	Windsor
	Wolverhampton
	Woolwich
	Worcester
	Workington
	Worthing
	Worthy Down
	York
	Scotland Units/Sub Units
	Aberdeen
	Arbroath
	Ayr
	Bathgate
	Cumbernauld
	Cupar
	Dreghorn
	Dumbarton
	Dumfries
	Dundee
	Dunfermline
	Dunoon
	East Kilbride
	Edinburgh
	Elgin
	Forfar
	Galashiels
	Glasgow
	Glenrothes
	Govan
	Grangemouth
	Hamilton
	Inchinnan
	Inverness
	Keith
	Kirkcaldy
	Kirkwall
	Lerwick
	Leuchars
	Livingston
	Motherwell
	Paisley
	Perth
	Peterhead
	Stirling
	Stornoway
	Wick
	Wales Units/Sub Units
	Abertillery
	Bridgend
	Caernarfon
	Cardiff
	Carmarthen
	Colwyn Bay
	Cwmbran
	Haverfordwest
	Monmouth
	Newport
	Pontypridd
	Prestatyn
	Queensferry
	Swansea
	Wrexham
	Northern Ireland Units/Sub Units
	Aldergrove
	Armagh
	Ballykinler
	Ballymena
	Bangor
	Belfast
	Coleraine
	Enniskillen
	Holywood
	Limavady
	Lisburn
	Londonderry
	Newtonabbey
	Newtownards
	Portadown
	Royal Auxiliary Air Force
	England Squadrons
	Benson
	Brize Norton
	Henlow
	Honington
	High Wycombe
	Leeming
	Marham
	Northolt
	Waddington
	Woodvale
	ScotlandSquadrons
	Edinburgh
	Glasgow
	Leuchars
	Lossiemouth
	WalesSquadrons
	To be decided
	Northern Ireland Squadrons
	Aldergrove

Syria

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the UK has provided any (a) internal security training, (b) public order training and (c) sniper training or training in the use of heavy military equipment to Syria since President Bashar al-Assad came to office.

Andrew Robathan: The UK has not provided any specific internal security training, public order training, sniper training or training in the use of heavy military equipment to Syria since President Bashar al-Assad came to office in July 2000.
	The small number of Syrian personnel who attended initial officer training and staff courses between 2000 and 2008 will have been exposed to UK doctrine on these topics.

Syria

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what consideration the Defence Exports Support Group has given to lifting restrictions on exports of (a) lethal and (b) non-lethal military equipment to Syrian opposition groups.

Philip Dunne: The Defence Export Support Group has not met recently, however, Ministers consider, through the National Security Council and its sub-groups, important export issues.
	The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate at an ever more rapid pace. Since the outbreak of the Syrian revolution, more than 70,000 people have died. There are now more than one million Syrian refugees in the region. A year ago, one million people needed humanitarian aid inside Syria: that figure is now four million.
	In the face of this situation of extreme humanitarian distress and political stalemate, we want Europe to review all options. We should support diplomatic progress in every way we can, but we also believe that we should review the European sanctions regime again given the extreme gravity of the situation. However, we have taken no decision at present to send arms to Syria.

Unmanned Air Vehicles

Rehman Chishti: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence in which countries US forces have flown UK unmanned aerial vehicles to date.

Andrew Robathan: US pilots have not flown UK Reaper except during the launch and recovery phase, from Kandahar, in support of operations in Afghanistan.

USA

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether US law applies on US military bases in the UK.

Andrew Robathan: The United States Visiting Forces are subject to both US and UK law, as set out in the NATO Status of Forces Agreement 1951, and enacted through the Visiting Forces Act 1952.

USA

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence who is in overall charge of security at (a) NSA Menwith Hill, (b) USAD Mildenhall, (c) USAD Lakenheath, (d) JAC Molesworth, (e) USAD Croughton, (f) USAD Barford St John, (g) USAF Fairford and (h) USAF Alconbury.

Andrew Robathan: Policing and security arrangements at bases made available to the United States Visiting Force are covered under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministry of Defence Police and Guarding Agency and the United States Visiting Force.
	The United Kingdom, as the host nation, is responsible for security outside the perimeter fence of the bases, with the United States Visiting Force responsible for internal security.

USA

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence for what reasons military land byelaws are proposed for introduction at USAF Barford St John.

Andrew Robathan: The proposed new byelaws for introduction at RAF Barford St John are designed to facilitate the effective policing and regulation of activity on Ministry of Defence land, while ensuring the safety and security of USAF service personnel manning the site.

USA

Fabian Hamilton: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether the Space-based Infra-red systems radomes (SBIRS) at the American base at NSA Menwith Hill are actively operational; and if SBIRS have been used to date.

Andrew Robathan: The Space Based Infra-Red System (SBIRS) at RAF Menwith Hill achieved operational status during 2011. We do not comment, for security and operational reasons, on the specific use of the SBIRS facilities at the base.

Veterans: Employment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many people went through the Career Transition Partnership in (a) 2010, (b) 2011 and (c) 2012.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 15 May 2013
	The number of people who accessed Career Transition Partnership services in recent years is as follows:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2008 14,182 
			 2009 10,072 
			 2010 10,717 
			 20.11 14,429 
			 2012 15,812

Veterans: Employment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what restrictions are placed on businesses who wish to advertise employment vacancies through the Career Transition Partnership.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 16 May 2013
	The Career Transition Partnership (CTP) welcomes employment vacancy advertisements from organisations in which the skills and experience of service leavers are recognised as a good fit for their work force. However, to ensure the integrity and quality of vacancies offered, the CTP does not encourage advertisements from recruitment agencies or employment ‘broker' organisations.

Veterans: Employment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training is available to those who have left the armed forces to prepare them to find civilian work; and for what period following departure.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 16 May 2013
	All service leavers are entitled to some form of resettlement assistance to enable them to transition successfully into civilian life. This assistance includes a suite of training and employment support from the Career Transition Partnership (a partnering arrangement between MOD and Right Management Limited, part of the Manpower Group). This training is also provided for those who have left the armed forces, where training vacancies exist, for up to two years post-discharge.
	We monitor constantly the support we provide to service leavers. In 2012 Lord Ashcroft was appointed as Special Representative for Veterans Transition. In this role he will provide the MOD with advice on how we can further support those leaving the armed forces. It is expected that Lord Ashcroft will produce an interim report to the Secretary of State for Defence by the end of 2013, with more comprehensive recommendations being made during 2014.

Veterans: Employment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what policies led by his Department are in place to provide veterans with employment opportunities on leaving the armed forces.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 16 May 2013
	Prior to leaving, all service personnel are entitled to resettlement assistance consisting of time, money and training according to length of service. Those who have served six years or more, and all those medically discharged regardless of how long served, are entitled to the full resettlement programme, which includes:
	a three-day career transition workshop;
	use of a career consultant;
	a job finding service;
	re-training time; and
	a re-training grant.
	Those who have served four years or more are entitled to employment support in the form of a bespoke job finding service and career interview. Resettlement services are provided by the Career Transition Partnership (CTP), a partnering arrangement between Ministry of Defence and Right Management Limited.
	‘Right Job' is the bespoke Career Transition Partnership's online job finding service, and it lists thousands of live vacancies which are updated on a daily basis. Right Job assists the service leaver in finding a job they believe is right for them, and enables employers to find qualified candidates who are leaving the armed forces. This service is free of charge to both service leavers and employers.
	Service leavers are entitled to lifetime job finding support through either the Officers Association or the Regular Forces Employment Association.

Veterans: Employment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which businesses advertise employment vacancies through the Career Transition Partnership.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 16 May 2013
	Businesses of all sizes and from a wide and varied range of sectors advertise employment vacancies through the Career Transition Partnership. Sectors include:
	business services (e.g. project management and retail management);
	security;
	energy and utilities;
	transport and logistics; and
	engineering.

Veterans: Employment

Jim Murphy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what training is available to those currently serving and preparing to leave the armed forces in order to prepare them to find civilian work.

Andrew Robathan: holding answer 16 May 2013
	Training is an integral part of our broader efforts to help service personnel make the transition into civilian life.
	Service leavers may qualify for a resettlement training grant and Government-sponsored enhanced learning credits, to help towards the cost of nationally recognised qualifications.
	The Career Transition Partnership (CTP) provides a resettlement programme including up to 35 days retraining time and access to a wide range of accredited vocational training courses and workshops. The CTP service, including resettlement support, lasts for up to two years after individuals have left the armed forces.

HEALTH

Abortion

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when the abortion statistics for 2012 in England and Wales will be published.

Anna Soubry: The Department's publication, ‘Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2012’, will be published in July 2013.
	Abortion statistics are typically published in May or June each year. The Department is currently consulting users of abortion statistics on proposed changes to the publication, in particular the most effective way to present the detailed geography tables. The consultation closes on 10 June 2013. The 2012 abortion statistics have therefore been slightly delayed to accommodate the outcome of the consultation.

Accident and Emergency Departments

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will take steps to ensure that all accident and emergency units have at least 10 consultants assigned to them;
	(2)  what guidance he gives to accident and emergency units on ensuring that staff are not overworked.

Anna Soubry: National health service bodies are responsible for considering what staffing levels are necessary and appropriate within their organisations, as well as the health and well-being of their staff. Therefore, the Department has not issued any central guidance on these issues.
	NHS England's Urgent and Emergency Care Review, led by Sir Bruce Keogh, is taking a holistic look at the complex issues surrounding care delivery in this area. The Review, which is benefiting from the input of a wide range of experts, is tasked with making recommendations to ensure that urgent and emergency care is provided in a safe, effective and sustainable way.
	One of the aims of the Review is to come to a consensus on options for organising and delivering urgent and emergency care, which will involve taking an evidence-based look at work force and resourcing issues.
	Health Education England has also set up an expert group, working in close collaboration with the College of Emergency Medicine and other key stakeholders, to look at what more can be done to ensure there is sufficient medical work force being trained for accident and emergency requirements. The advice of this group will help inform NHS England's Urgent and Emergency Care Review.

Breast Cancer

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individual breast screenings were conducted under the NHS Breast Cancer Screening Programme in (a) England, (b) the West Midlands and (c) Birmingham in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013 to date.

Anna Soubry: The information is not available in the format requested. Information on the number of women screened for England, the West Midlands strategic health authority (SHA) and Birmingham is provided in the following table.
	
		
			 Number of women screened (aged 45 and over) for England, West Midlands SHA and selected Breast Screening Units, 2009 to 2012 
			  Reporting year 
			  2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 
			 England 1,794,909 1,884,368 1,940,603 
			 West Midlands SHA 193,172 204,956 214,472 
			 City, Sandwell and Walsall Breast Screening Unit 33,585 37,259 42,048 
			 South Birmingham Breast Screening Unit 10,974 10,447 14,026 
			 Notes: 1. The breast screening programme collects information on the number of women screened and not individual breast screenings. 2. The two Breast Screening Units (BSUs) above cover Birmingham, but City, Sandwell and Walsall BSU also screens women from outside the Birmingham area. 3. Statistics are collected and reported by financial year and not calendar year. The most recent statistics available are for 2011-12. 4. SHAs were abolished on 31 March. Source: KC62 return, Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the World Health Organisation's update of 12 May 2013 on the coronavirus infection.

Anna Soubry: Based on the information in the World Health Organisation's update of 12 May 2013, there is evidence of limited, non-sustained person-to-person transmission. The risk of novel coronavirus infection (nCoV) to United Kingdom residents in the UK remains very low. The risk to UK residents travelling to the middle east remains very low and does not warrant a change to current travel advice.
	The risk of coronavirus infection to residents of or recent visitors to the middle east who are investigated in the UK with an unexplained severe acute respiratory illness also remains very low, but warrants investigation for coronavirus infection.
	The risk of contacts of confirmed cases of nCoV infection is still generally considered to be low but emerging evidence suggests there may be specific circumstances where transmission can occur.

Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure hospitals are adequately prepared for any widespread outbreak of novel coronavirus.

Anna Soubry: National health service hospitals are well versed in dealing with infection prevention and control covering the protection of staff, patients and members of the public and the normal practice of good hand hygiene is effectively used to reduce the spread of infection as far as is practicable.
	Once laboratory confirmed cases have been identified, strict isolation and use of full personal protective equipment is recommended. Public Health England (PHE) has worked with the NHS to ensure contact tracing on all confirmed cases is undertaken to identify further possible cases and close contacts of confirmed cases are followed up for a period of 10 days since the date of last exposure to the index case.
	PHE continuously reviews and updates its guidance on novel coronavirus infections.

Coronavirus

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what discussions his Department has had with other European governments on containing an outbreak of novel coronavirus.

Anna Soubry: Departmental officials and Public Health England are involved in discussions with the EU Health Security Committee, influenza section, on the subject of avian influenza A(H7N9) in China and novel coronavirus in Europe and the middle east. The purpose of these collaborations is to share recent developments and, based on international risk assessments, consider the health measures member states are taking at a national level to strengthen preparedness in case the two events develop further.

Aural Hygiene: Children

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure that children are taught the importance of good aural hygiene.

Daniel Poulter: None. Parents and children are generally advised not to attempt to clean inside the ear canal in case they damage its lining.

Derriford Hospital

Oliver Colvile: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of never events at Derriford Hospital.

Daniel Poulter: The Department is aware of recent never events that have occurred at the Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust. We understand the Trust has implemented a number of immediate actions to safeguard patients pending the outcome of the formal investigations.
	NHS England has established a Surgical Never Events Task Force to examine the reasons why there are still a relatively high proportion of never events related to the peri-operative environment being reported. The findings of the taskforce will inform further work to eradicate these incidents from the national health service. The taskforce will report to NHS England by the end of July.
	More widely, Professor Don Berwick is chairing the National Advisory Group on the Safety of Patients in England, which is exploring how to improve patient safety in the NHS in the wake of the Mid-Staffordshire Public Inquiry, and will also report in July.

Diabetes UK

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the contract between NHS IQ and Diabetes UK.

Anna Soubry: NHS Improving Quality is a joint venture between NHS England and the Department and is hosted by NHS England.
	NHS Improving Quality works with a number of key stakeholders including charities like Diabetes UK to ensure our work is aligned to patients ‘and carers’ requirements. NHS England advises that NHS Improving Quality has no contract in place with Diabetes UK.

Dietary Supplements: EU Action

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to protect the specialist retail and manufacturing of food health supplements following the proposal for EU maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in such supplements.

Anna Soubry: Discussions on the setting of maximum permitted levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements halted at the European Union level in 2009. Currently there is no date planned for negotiations to resume.
	The Government's position is that any future decisions on vitamins and mineral food supplements need to be proportionate and based on evidence, so that consumers have confidence in what they buy, while maintaining a wide choice of safe products.
	I have written to the European Commissioner for Health and Consumer Policy, Tonio Borg, and the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has met with the Commissioner to emphasise the United Kingdom's position. Until further details are released on any future proposals, it is not possible to anticipate the full impact that the setting of maximum levels may have on consumer choice and the specialist food supplement sector.

Eating Disorders: Greater London

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many people have been admitted to hospitals within Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust for (a) anorexia nervosa and (b) bulimia in each of the last five years.

Daniel Poulter: The information is not available in the format requested.
	Data for finished admission episodes with a primary diagnosis of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and London strategic health authority (the main provider for 2007-08 to 2011-12) are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Finished admission episodes(1) with a primary diagnosis(2) of (a) anorexia nervosa or (b) bulimia nervosa at Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust and London strategic health authority of main provider(3) for 2007-08 to 2011-12(4), activity in English NHS hospitals and English NHS commissioned activity in the independent sector 
			  Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust London strategic health authority of main provider 
			  Anorexia nervosa Bulimia nervosa Anorexia nervosa Bulimia nervosa 
			 2007-08 * * 147 19 
			 2008-09 * * 138 15 
			 2009-10 * 0 215 26 
			 2010-11 * 0 182 23 
			 2011-12 * * 368 31 
			 * Denotes a suppressed number between 1 and 5. To protect patient confidentiality, figures between 1 and 5 have been replaced with “*” (an asterisk). Where it was still possible to identify figures from the total, additional figures have been replaced with “*”. (1) A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of in-patient care under one consultant within one health care provider. FAEs are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of in-patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. (2)Primary diagnosis The primary diagnosis is the first of up to 20 (14 from 2002-03 to 2006-07 and seven prior to 2002-03) diagnosis fields in the hospital episode statistics (HES) data set and provides the main reason why the patient was admitted to hospital. (3)SHA of main provider This indicates the strategic health authority (SHA) area within which the organisation providing treatment was located. (4)Assessing growth through time (in-patients) HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in NHS practice. For example, changes in activity may be due to changes in the provision of care. Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Eating Disorders: Young People

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to ensure young people are aware of the dangers of undereating.

Anna Soubry: Public Health England is working to promote the achievement of a healthy weight across different population groups including, for example, through the Change4Life Campaign.
	The NHS Choices website provides information covering eating disorders, reasons for being underweight, why being underweight is bad for health now and in the future and how to gain weight healthily. This information is aimed at underweight teenage boys and girls.
	The National Child Measurement Programme captures information on children who are underweight, which provides an opportunity for local follow-up where there is a concern.

Eating Disorders: Young People

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the prevalence of eating disorders among teenage men.

Daniel Poulter: This information is not collected centrally. A survey carried out on behalf of the Department and the Welsh and Scottish Governments by the Office for National Statistics in 2004 found the prevalence of eating disorders in boys aged 11 to 16 to be 0.1% (compared to 0.6% for girls of the same age). The survey was published as ‘Mental health of children and young people in Great Britain’, 2004 (ONS 2005).
	For adults (aged 16 years and over) the most recent ‘Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey’, based on a survey by the National Centre for Social Research and the University of Leicester in 2007, was published by the Health and Social Care Information Centre in 2009. This was based on answers to a survey rather than on existing diagnoses. For eating disorders this is based on a set of questions on attitudes to eating and a separate question about whether feelings about food had a significant effect on everyday life. The survey found that 6.1% of men aged 16 to 24 (compared to 20.3% of women of the same age) had possible eating disorders and that this had a significant impact on the lives of 1.7% of men aged 16 to 24 (compared with 5.4% of women).

General Practitioners

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he plans to next amend the GP contract.

Daniel Poulter: From 1 April 2013, responsibility for negotiating amendments to the general medical services contract passed to NHS England. Any regulatory changes required following these negotiations are made by the Department.
	Preparations for the 2014-15 contract negotiations are under way and the negotiations are planned to conclude before the end of the calendar year in order to allow amendments, if required, to be made to general medical services contract regulations to come into force from 1 April 2014.

General Practitioners

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps GPs are taking to keep elderly, frail people out of hospital.

Daniel Poulter: The Secretary of State for Health recently announced that the Department will be developing, with NHS England, a plan for vulnerable older people. The plan will set out how general practice can best meet the needs of older people and those with long term conditions. This will include considering how best to ensure that older people are treated in the most appropriate setting.
	NHS England has advised that general practitioner practices are increasingly taking a more proactive, population based approach to care management and NHS England is working with clinical commissioning groups to embed its approach.

General Practitioners

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will introduce a rota of general practitioners into all accident and emergency departments;
	(2)  if he will require general practitioners to provide a 24 hour a day service seven days a week.

Anna Soubry: NHS England is responsible for the oversight of commissioning of urgent care services in England. This includes the development of new models of care to best meet patients' needs, including how health professionals, such as general practitioners (GPs), can best deliver urgent care in a range of settings.
	As part of this, NHS England has established the Seven Day Service Forum, led by Sir Bruce Keogh, to identify ways to improve access to routine services around the country, seven days a week. The forum will consider the role of non-hospital services such as primary and community health care, and social services, in providing urgent care services. The use of GPs delivering care in different settings, for example the use of a rota in accident and emergency departments amongst other options, will be considered within this context.
	The forum will report in the autumn.

Genito-urinary Medicine: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve the provision of sexual health services in the London borough of Havering.

Anna Soubry: The Government’s ambition for sexual health is set out in their Framework for Sexual Health Improvement in England published in March 2013. This makes clear the importance of good sexual health and well-being for people of all ages and across the life course. Each local authority will commission sexual health services based upon the needs of its community. The London borough of Havering will receive the following public health allocation, which also covers sexual health services, in 2013-14 and 2014-15.
	
		
			  £/% 
			 2013-14 opening baseline—historical spend (£) 8,030.000 
			 2013-14 opening target—what they should get based on ACRA formula (£) 10,355,000 
			 2013-14 increase based on historical spend plus growth(1) (%) 10 
			 2013-14 allocation—actual allocation 2013-14 (£) 8,833,000 
			 2014-15 allocation—actual allocation 2014-15 with 10% increase(1) (£) 9,717,000 
			 (1) 10% increase is the maximum any local authority will receive for 2013-14 and 2014-15.

Heart Diseases

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent estimate he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women diagnosed with heart disease in (i) Hounslow, (ii) London and (iii) England.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not hold the information as requested as we are unable to provide an estimate of the number of people diagnosed with heart disease.
	The following table details a count of finished admission episodes with a diagnosis of heart disease by for males and females for Hounslow Primary Care Trust (PCT), London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and England residents for the year 2011-12.
	
		
			  Male Female Unknown 
			 Hounslow PCT 1,523 967 — 
			 London SHA 44,780 29,101 8 
			 England 346,444 228,727 16 
		
	
	This information is not a count of people as the same person may have been admitted on more than one occasion.

HIV Infection

Pauline Latham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health for what reason NHS England has withdrawn its BHIVA guidelines commissioning policy; and whether it intends to commission HIV treatment and services according to authoritative clinical guidelines.

Anna Soubry: We understand from NHS England that the British HIV Association guidelines are explicitly referred to in the service specification, which was recently consulted on and adopted by NHS England, and will be used to inform commissioning decisions relating to Human Immunodeficiency Virus treatment and services. The service specification is to be published on the NHS England website within the next few weeks.

Mental Health Services

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve training in mental health conditions and treatment amongst NHS staff.

Daniel Poulter: The standards of health care training is the responsibility of the independent regulatory bodies.
	Through their role as the custodians of quality standards in education and practice, these organisations are committed to ensuring high quality patient care delivered by high quality health professionals and that health care professionals are equipped with the knowledge, skills and behaviours required to deal with the problems and conditions they will encounter in practice.
	From 1 April 2013 Health Education England (HEE) has responsibility for promoting high quality education and training that is responsive to the changing needs of patients and local communities and will work with stakeholders to influence training curricula as appropriate.
	HEE has announced the launch of a dementia awareness on-line training module through e-Learning For Healthcare. The module is intended to ensure that staff working in health and social care are able to recognise and understand dementia. Additional modules will help staff to answer questions about dementia. This is part of a wider educational strategy that is in development to support implementation of the National Dementia Strategy and the Prime Minister's challenge to deliver major improvements in dementia care and research by 2015.

Mental Health Services

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the annual cost to the NHS of treating mental illness.

Daniel Poulter: The 2011-12 National Survey of Investment in Mental Health Services showed that total reported investment in mental health services was £6.629 billion for working age adults and £2.830 billion for older people.

Mental Health Services

Ian Austin: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what measures are in place in the NHS to encourage people with a mental illness to receive treatment.

Daniel Poulter: NHS England has advised that it aims to both identify and encourage people with mental ill health to seek treatment. Commissioning agencies should have in place systematic ways of assessing the needs of their patients in order to identify those who have a mental illness, or are at increased risk of developing one. Those identified can then be prioritised for outreach and early intervention.
	NHS England is also working with Public Health England and expert informatics partners to explore the use of both new technologies and community-based assertive outreach support involving families, communities and partner agencies. Work is also under way with Health Education England, clinical commissioning groups and the Academic Health Science Networks to explore ways of helping primary care staff to recognise and treat mental ill health early in primary care.
	NHS England is committed to exploring ways of making it easier for people to get the information they need about how to access care and support. This includes a commitment in NHS England's Business Plan to encourage use of modern media format forms of information on self-help, self-management and available services for those members of the public wanting to access services for the first time. For those people already in services, there is a commitment to improve access to care plans including better information on what to do in a crisis.
	The introduction of NHS Health Check, for adults in England aged between 40 and 74, is also a proactive opportunity for people to seek information on health matters, including mental health.

Mental Health Services: Havering

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to improve the provision of mental health services in the London borough of Havering.

Daniel Poulter: North East London NHS Foundation Trust is working closely with Barking, Havering and Redbridge Hospitals University Hospitals NHS Trust to improve health for people with mental health problems.
	Mental health and well-being is a priority for this Government. Our overarching goal is to ensure that mental health has equal priority with physical health. The mandate to NHS England makes clear that everyone should have timely access to the mental health services they need.

NHS 111: South East

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the 111 service in the south-east; and if he will make a statement.

Anna Soubry: There have been problems with the roll-out of NHS 111 in the south-east.
	A range of indicators are used to measure performance of providers, and a number of these have not been met in the south-east coast region of the NHS (there are a number of providers in the wider region as the south east is not a specific NHS area).
	We recognise that the service has not been good enough and we are working closely with NHS England to ensure improvement in performance. NHS England has put a number of measures in place already. NHS England area teams have been keeping a close oversight of the issues and are supporting local clinical commissioning groups and individual providers to ensure the service improves. NHS England has close monitoring arrangements, including where necessary daily, and also reports weekly on performance to the Secretary of State for Health. It will continue to do so until the key performance indicators are routinely met. We expect to see continued improved performance week on week into the summer.

NHS: Compensation

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  how many successful compensation claims made against the NHS referenced (a) anticoagulation, (b) warfarin, (c) heparin, (d) deep vein thrombosis and (e) pulmonary embolism in each of the last five years for which figures are available;
	(2)  how many cases brought against the NHS Litigation Authority referenced (a) anticoagulation, (b) warfarin, (c) heparin, (d) deep vein thrombosis and (e) pulmonary embolism in each of the last five years for which figures are available;
	(3)  what the cost was of successful compensation claims made against the NHS which referenced (a) anticoagulation, (b) warfarin, (c) heparin, (d) deep vein thrombosis and (e) pulmonary embolism in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Daniel Poulter: The Department does not hold these data centrally, but they have been provided by the National Health Service Litigation Authority (NHS LA), and are shown in the tables.
	The following points in relation to the data should be noted. The data show the position at 31 March 2012; the data for 2012-13 is not yet available. The year refers to the year when the claim was made. Relevant claims were selected by searching for the keywords in the incident details on the NHS LA database. However a particular claim's data could possibly be duplicated, i.e. the incident could be identified by one or more referenced words. The amounts paid in a given year may include payments on settlements made in that year as well as payments made against settlements agreed in earlier years, for example where there are on-going annual payments.
	The information in the following table shows how many successful clinical negligence compensation claims against the NHS were made which referenced (a) anticoagulation, (b) warfarin, (c) heparin, (d) deep vein thrombosis, (e) pulmonary embolism in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
	
		
			  Number of successful compensation claims against the NHS which referenced 
			  2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 
			 Anticoagulation (1)— 8 4 5 4 
			 Warfarin 7 14 12 6 9 
			 Heparin 3 6 3 6 6 
			 Deep Vein Thrombosis 34 35 32 37 30 
			 'Pulmonary Embolism 14 18 23 20 18 
			 (1) Data for anticoagulation are not shown due to personal data protection reasons because they relate to a single anticoagulation claim and therefore it might be possible to identify the claimant from the data. Date: 15 May 2013 Source: NHS LA 
		
	
	The information in the following table shows the number of compensation cases brought against the NHS which referenced (a) anticoagulation, (b) warfarin, (c) heparin, (d) deep vein thrombosis, (e) pulmonary embolism in each of the last five years for which figures are available.
	
		
			  Number of compensation cases brought against the NHS which referenced 
			  2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 
			 Anticoagulation 10 9 7 6' 7 
			 Warfarin 19 17 16 11 14 
			 Heparin 8 12 5 7 9 
			 Deep Vein Thrombosis 95 59 51 42 46 
			 Pulmonary Embolism 35 29 30 28 28 
			 Date: 15 May 2013 Source: NHS LA 
		
	
	The information in the following table shows the cost of successful claims made against the NHS which referenced (a) anticoagulation, (b) warfarin, (c) heparin, (d) deep vein thrombosis, (e) pulmonary embolism in each of the last five years for. which figures are available.
	
		
			 £ 
			  Cost of successful compensation claims against the NHS which referenced 
			  2011-12 2010-11 2009-10 2008-09 2007-08 
			 Anticoagulation (1)— 1,703,661 441,425 1,011,800 622,408 
			 Warfarin 248,990 901,591 611,721 502,251 1,348,535 
			 Heparin 240,232 717,777 331,613 1,803,292 660,779 
			 Deep Vein Thrombosis 1,705,428 2,199,062 3,262,018 4,418,785 6,244,859 
			 Pulmonary Embolism 765,704 1,779,480 2,147,342 1,809,637 2,499,314 
			 (1) Data for anticoagulation are not shown due to personal data protection reasons because they relate to a single anticoagulation claim and therefore it might be possible to identify the claimant from the data. Date: 15 May 2013 Source: NHS LA

NHS: Resignations

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of (a) NHS doctors and (b) NHS nurses who have left their employment with between two and five years' experience in (i) 2010, (ii) 2011, (iii) 2012 and (iv) 2013 to date.

Daniel Poulter: No estimate has been made of the number of national health service doctors and NHS nurses who have left their employment with between two and five years' experience in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013 to date.
	The primary source of NHS work force information is the electronic staff record (ESR) Data Warehouse.
	However, the ESR Data Warehouse does not hold a robust record of employees' experience.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department.

Daniel Poulter: For each new regulation, the Department prepares an Impact Assessment, using guidance prepared by HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. Where regulations have an impact on business, or seek to transpose European Union legislation into United Kingdom law, the Department seeks approval and validation from the Regulatory Policy Committee. Additionally, the impact of regulation within scope of the one-in, one-out and one-in, two-out rules is independently verified and reported twice a year in the Statement of New Regulation.
	The Department has worked with Cabinet Office to review its regulations through two Red Tape Challenges (RTC). Between 9 March and 12 April 2012, the Department ran a RTC on medicines, which identified 215 regulations that would be merged, simplified or scrapped altogether.
	The Department ran a second RTC between 6 November 2012 and 31 January 2013, to review over 500 regulations relating to public health, quality of care, mental health, the national health service and professional standards. The Department is still reviewing the responses to this challenge and will announce deregulatory proposals in October 2013.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one-in, one-out and (ii) one-in, two-out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended;
	(2)  if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were.

Daniel Poulter: Since January 2011, Whitehall Departments have been expected, under one in, one out (OIOO), to offset any increases in the cost of regulation by finding deregulatory measures of at least an equivalent value. This covered all regulation that came into force until December 2012. From January 2013, one in, two out (OITO) applies.
	The following table sets out the regulations that have been introduced under OIOO and OITO.
	
		
			 Title of the measure Came into force ‘In’ net cost (£ million) ‘Out’ net benefit (£ million) 
			 The Medical Profession (Responsible Officers) Regulations 2010 January 2011 1.78 — 
			 The Health Service Branded Medicines (Control of Prices and Supply of Information) Amendment Regulations 2010 January 2011 0.00 — 
			 Regulation of Sunbeds April 2011 7.50 — 
			 Amendments to the Primary Medical Services (Electronic Prescription Service Authorisation) Directions 2008 April 2011 0.00 — 
			 IR(ME)R Amendment Regulations 2011 October 2011 0.05 — 
			 Prohibition on the sale of tobacco from vending machines October 2011 9.80 — 
			 Three Year Rule for New Pharmacies October 2011 — 0.07 
			 Prohibition of the display of tobacco at point of sale April 2012 2.41 — 
			 Care Quality Commission registration June 2012 — 0.42 
			 Consolidation of UK Medicines . legislation June 2012 — 0.94 
			 Smoke free signs October 2012 — 0.07 
			 OIOO subtotal  21.54 1.50 
			 Medical Profession (Responsible Officers) Regs Language Skills April 2013 0.00 — 
			 OITO subtotal  0.00 0.00

Sodium Valproate

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will request that the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency issue regular caution in use warnings to general practitioners relating to the risks posed by taking sodium valproate during pregnancy.

Daniel Poulter: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has ensured that warnings about the potential for sodium valproate to cause birth defects in animals and possible related hazards to women of childbearing age have been in the product information available to health care professionals since the time of licensing in 1972.
	As new data have emerged the product information supplied to all doctors and the Patient Information Leaflets available with the medicine have been updated in a timely manner and in accordance with legal and regulatory guidance to reflect the known side effects including new information with regards to the safety of use during pregnancy.
	The MHRA is committed to carefully reviewing any new evidence of risk and informing health care professionals and patients about any changes to the way the product should be used through changes to the product information and patient information leaflets.
	Any new prescribing advice is also brought to the attention of prescribers in the monthly MHRA bulletin Drug Safety Update. The MHRA has issued three articles on the risks associated with the use of sodium valproate during pregnancy in Drug Safety Update and its predecessor, Current Problems in Pharmacovigilance and will continue to do so as new information emerges.
	The product information for all medicines containing sodium valproate contains detailed advice in relation to its use during pregnancy. It is currently advised that women of childbearing potential should not be started on sodium valproate unless clearly necessary (i.e. in situations where other treatments are ineffective or not tolerated).

Sorafenib

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the availability of the drug sorafenib in England.

Anna Soubry: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued technology appraisal guidance which does not recommend the use of sorafenib (Nexavar) for the first and second-line treatment of advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma, or for the treatment of advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.
	In the absence of positive NICE technology appraisal guidance, national health service commissioners should make funding decisions based on an assessment of the available evidence and on the basis of an individual patient's clinical circumstances.
	Where a cancer drug is not routinely funded by the NHS, patients may be able to access it through the Cancer Drugs Fund. A number of patients have received funding for sorafenib through the fund.

Speech and Language Disorders: Children

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will adopt the recommendations from the Communication Champion for England's report Augmentative and alternative communication: a report on provision for children and young people in England; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: Communication aids are directly commissioned by both NHS England and other commissioners (including clinical commissioning groups).
	We are advised that NHS England's Clinical Reference Group (CRG) for complex disability equipment has developed a new, nationally consistent specification for this service, which was subject to public consultation prior to its adoption from 1 April 2013.
	The specification notes the recommendations of the communication champion's report of 2010. The CRG will be meeting with a representative of the champion's office to go through the report and its assumptions, as part of its drive to ensure commissioning for this specialised service is placed on a more robust and equitable footing across England.

Vitamin D

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the number of (a) men and (b) women diagnosed with vitamin D deficiency in (i) Hounslow, (ii) London and (iii) England.

Anna Soubry: The Department does not hold the information as requested. However, we are able to provide a count of finished admission episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency by gender for Hounslow Primary Care Trust (PCT), London Strategic Health Authority (SHA) and England residents.
	The following table details a count of finished admission episodes with a primary or secondary diagnosis of vitamin D deficiency by gender for Hounslow PCT, London SHA and England residents for the year 2011-12.
	
		
			 PCT/SHA/country of residence Male Female Unknown 
			 Hounslow PCT 66 113 0 
			 London SHA 2,123 3,819 3 
			 England 5,263 11,068 6 
		
	
	The above information relates to secondary care admissions only and does not include diagnoses in primary care or other settings.
	This information is not a count of people as the same person may have been admitted on more than one occasion.

Young People: Departmental Co-ordination

Ann Coffey: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will conduct a joint investigation with the Secretary of State for Education on ways to improve the safe sharing of information between health and social care services and schools and other services relevant to children and young people through the adoption of common standards and procedures for sharing information; and if he will make a statement.

Daniel Poulter: This was one of a number of recommendations contained in the report of the review into information governance and information sharing in the health and care system conducted by Dame Fiona Caldicott at the request of the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt). This report was published on 26 April 2013. The Department of Health is preparing the Government's response to Dame Fiona's report and will be discussing this recommendation with the Department for Education. The Government response is expected in the summer.

JUSTICE

Personal Injury Claims

Stephen Mosley: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to reduce the cost of vehicle insurance through the reform of personal injury claim arrangements.

Helen Grant: Part 2 of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, which was implemented on 1 April 2013, will reduce insurers’ costs in defending personal injury claims. We expect the industry to pass on these savings to the public through lower premiums.

Employment of Ex-offenders

Mark Menzies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what plans he has to assist ex-offenders into employment.

Jeremy Wright: We have already ensured that prison leavers aged over 18 who claim jobseeker's allowance on release or shortly afterwards are referred to the Work programme immediately. And we have introduced work in prisons on a much larger scale than before, providing offenders with real work experiences and helping to build their confidence about operating in the workplace on release.
	Our Transforming Rehabilitation reforms will see new rehabilitation provider working to tackle the root causes of offending by using innovative approaches such as mentoring, and by signposting to services aimed at housing, training and employment.

Legal Aid

Karl McCartney: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he is taking to improve the value for money of the legal aid system.

Jeremy Wright: As set out in our consultation paper ‘Transforming Legal Aid: Delivering a More Credible and Efficient System’, we are bringing forward a number of proposals to reduce the cost of legal aid. These include reductions to the fees earned by those providing legal aid and making it harder for unmeritorious cases to gain funding.

Offending by Probationers

Graham Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to reduce the number of offences committed by people on probation.

Jeremy Wright: We will put in place an unprecedented nationwide ‘through the prison gate’ resettlement service, meaning most offenders are given continuous support by one provider from custody into the community. We will support this by ensuring that most offenders are held in a prison designated to their area for at least three months before release. All offenders will then receive rehabilitation support in the community once they are released.

Animal Welfare: Crime

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will introduce tougher sentences in cases of extreme cruelty to animals; and if he will make a statement.

David Heath: I have been asked to reply 
	on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
	The maximum penalty for those convicted of offences connected with animal cruelty is six months imprisonment, or a fine of £20,000, or both. It is for the courts to decide what the appropriate sentence is following a conviction. The magistrates court sentencing guidelines provide magistrates with guidance on suitable penalties for individual cases.

Corporate Manslaughter

Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many convictions there have been for corporate manslaughter since 2007.

Jeremy Wright: There were no convictions for corporate manslaughter between 2007 and 2010 and one conviction in 2011.
	Court proceedings data for 2012 are planned for publication later in May 2013.

Crime: Victims

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will amend the Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction report to include a section on the needs of victims and the prisoners' attitudes towards their victims.

Jeremy Wright: The Surveying Prisoner Crime Reduction (SPCR) reports are based on a survey of prisoners sentenced to between one month and four years in England and Wales in 2005 and 2006. The last interviews were conducted in 2010. Questions on the needs of victims were not asked. However, prisoners were asked whether they believed there was a victim of their offence. There are no plans to conduct another large-scale prisoner cohort study.
	Our consultation on a revised Victims’ Code, with an emphasis on providing clearer and stronger entitlements for victims, closed on 10 May. We are now considering the responses to consultation and are planning to respond to the consultation and publish the final version of the Code in the summer. MOJ has committed £50 million of annual funding since 2010 to victims' services. Through reforms to the Victim Surcharge and financial penalties, we have committed to raise up to a further £50 million for victims' services from offenders.

Offenders: Rehabilitation

Andrea Leadsom: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  if he will make it his policy that the Probation Service should not use door-to-door selling as part of the rehabilitation of young offenders;
	(2)  whether there are any statutory requirements for probation officers to offer training to offenders as door-to-door salesmen as part of their rehabilitation programme.

Jeremy Wright: There is no statutory requirement for probation officers to offer training to offenders as door-to-door salesmen, nor does the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) engage with or support any programme of this nature.
	Although NOMS has received complaints from members of the public approached by people selling door-to-door, who claim to be ex-offenders engaged in a rehabilitation programme, offenders subject to post custodial licences are only permitted to undertake employment which is approved by their offender manager and it is very unlikely that permission would be given to undertake employment of this nature.

Parole

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many cases the Parole Board dealt with in (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012;
	(2)  what the Parole Board case load was on 1 April (a) 2008, (b) 2009, (c) 2010, (d) 2011 and (e) 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The number of cases that the Parole Board dealt with in the following financial years was:
	
		
			  Number 
			 2008-09 28,596 
			 2009-10 24,204 
			 2010-11 25,566 
			 2011-12 26,414 
		
	
	The figure in respect of 2012-13 is not yet available and will be published in the Board's 2012-13 Annual Report.
	The Parole Board has not recorded the level of its case load on 1 April of each of the years stated in the question.

Parole Board

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the Parole Board's funding was in each of the last five financial years.

Jeremy Wright: The funding provided by the Ministry of Justice to the Parole Board in each of the last five financial years through the supplementary estimate was:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2008-09 8.36 
			 2009-10 9.85 
			 2010-11 10.36 
			 2011-12 10.17 
			 2012-13 11.59

Parole Board

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the Parole Board's budget is for (a) 2013-14, (b) 2014-15 and (c) 2015-16.

Jeremy Wright: The Parole Board's resource budget for 2013-14 is £10.85 million. Its budget allocations for the years 2014-15 and 2015-16 have yet to be finalised.

Parole Board

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many full time equivalent staff were employed by the Parole Board in each year since 2008.

Jeremy Wright: The total number of individual permanent staff employed by the Parole Board for the following financial years was:
	2008-09: 104
	2009-10: 115.
	The number of full-time equivalent staff employed by the Parole Board has not been recorded for the above two financial years.
	The number of full-time equivalent staff employed by the Parole Board for the following three financial years was:
	2010-11: 99.2
	2011-12: 106.3
	2012-13: 99.05.

Police Cautions

Mark Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many conditional cautions for which categories of offence were issued by police authorities in each of the last five years.

Oliver Heald: I have been asked to reply.
	The following Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) data show the total number of conditional cautions that were issued in each of the last five years for each police force area. Further tables containing a detailed breakdown of data by offence category have been placed in the Library of the House. The number of conditional cautions issued is taken from defendant based data and not the number of offences committed. The total number of cautions issued will therefore differ from that noted in the breakdown of offence category.
	Prior to 8 April 2013, a decision to issue a conditional caution was taken following consultation between the police and the CPS. The police are now able to issue a conditional caution without reference to the CPS in all categories of offences except for indictable only offences and those categorised as hate crime or domestic violence.
	
		
			 CPS: Conditional cautions issued. 
			  2008-09 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 2012-13 
			 Total 8,378 8,229 6,933 4,981 3,774 
			       
			 Avon and Somerset 303 226 216 254 273 
			 Bedfordshire 86 94 164 80 77 
			 Cambridgeshire 163 254 460 185 123 
			 Cheshire 155 155 148 144 82 
			 Cleveland 80 53 83 47 39 
			 Cumbria 193 225 147 89 78 
			 Derbyshire 189 92 54 24 11 
			 Devon and Cornwall 191 251 220 171 93 
			 Dorset 167 117 154 143 193 
			 Durham 86 83 45 19 8 
			 Dyfed Powys 119 112 65 59 17 
			 Essex 118 320 215 153 103 
			 Gloucestershire 77 41 14 6 5 
			 Greater Manchester 125 91 106 52 40 
			 Gwent 25 33 36 11 7 
			 Hampshire and IOW 405 347 296 177 294 
			 Hertfordshire 53 85 222 138 111 
			 Humberside 189 285 265 145 110 
			 Kent 180 176 213 107 52 
			 Lancashire 1,002 685 447 380 344 
			 Leicestershire 148 199 90 79 59 
			 Lincolnshire 29 93 41 19 2 
			 London 769 748 615 494 334 
			 Merseyside 511 392 495 451 249 
			 Norfolk 352 341 262 233 129 
			 Northamptonshire 51 140 87 66 38 
			 Northumbria 119 138 84 61 60 
			 North Wales 255 227 132 103 78 
			 North Yorkshire 279 261 169 157 84 
			 Nottinghamshire 159 181 185 106 42 
			 South Wales 116 154 132 128 134 
		
	
	
		
			 South Yorkshire 211 267 62 42 26 
			 Staffordshire 134 176 78 84 76 
			 Suffolk 90 81 64 54 28 
			 Surrey 69 98 100 69 71 
			 Sussex 243 281 286 132 47 
			 Thames Valley 173 177 170 111 112 
			 Warwickshire 80 76 41 22 16 
			 West Mercia 162 123 60 29 9 
			 West Midlands 295 147 61 48 57 
			 West Yorkshire 163 130 105 88 50 
			 Wiltshire 64 74 44 21 13

Prison Sentences

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of prisoners serve the full length of their original sentence.

Jeremy Wright: All sentences are served in full. For the majority of offenders, this means serving part of their sentence in custody and part in the community. All release provisions are now contained in the Criminal Justice Act 2003 as amended.
	Prisoners must be released in accordance with the legislation laid down by Parliament. While there have been various changes to this over the years, Parliament has consistently maintained the view that custodial sentences should be served part in custody and part in the community.
	For determinate sentences of 12 months or more imposed on or after 3 December 2012 and those imposed before that date where the offence was committed on or after 4 April 2005, the first half of the sentence is served in custody and the second half is served on release on licence in the community to the end of the sentence. Release from sentences of less than 12 months is currently unconditional at the halfway point. The Offender Rehabilitation Bill changes this position.
	For determinate sentences or four years or more imposed before 3 December 2012 where the offence was committed prior to 4 April 2005, release is determined on the basis of risk by the Parole Board between the halfway and two-thirds point of the sentence. The offender is on licence from the point at which he is released until the three-quarters point of sentence. In respect of sentences of less than four years, the offender will be released at the halfway point, on licence to three-quarters point.
	For determinate sentences imposed before 1 October 1992, release is determined on the basis of risk by the Parole Board between the one-third and the two-thirds point of the sentence. The offender is on licence from the point at which he is released until the two-thirds point. If parole is not granted, automatic release is unconditional at the two-thirds point.
	For indeterminate sentence prisoners, the sentencing judge with regard to the legislation and guidelines in place at the time and taking into account any aggravating and mitigating factors of the case will set a minimum term to be served. This punitive period is known commonly as the “tariff” period. No indeterminate sentence prisoner can expect to be released before they have served the tariff period in full. Release on expiry of the tariff period is not automatic. Release will only take place once this period has been served and the Parole Board is satisfied that the risk of harm the prisoner poses to the public is acceptable. As such, some life sentence prisoners remain in prison beyond their tariff as they are not considered to present an acceptable risk to the public. Whole life prisoners will spend the rest of their lives in prison.

Prisoner Transfers

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what the cost was of transferring prisoners between prison establishments in England and Wales in each year from 2010 to 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The Prisoner Escort Custody Service (PECS), which is part of the National Offender Management Service, is responsible for the movement of prisoners between prisons, police stations and courts and their care and security while in court custody. PECS manages the secure escort contracts covering all those sent to custody in the prison estate, apart from Category A prisoners.
	Under the current contractual arrangements for PECS, inter-prison transfers are provided for as part of a single contract, which includes all other prisoner escort journeys apart from those of Category A prisoners. It is not possible to separate out the cost of movements between prison establishments.
	The full cost of delivering the PECS services between the years 2005-06 to 2012-13 was:
	
		
			 Cost of transporting prisoners, other than Category A prisoners, accommodated in the prison estate 
			  Total cost (£ million) 
			 2005-06 146.5 
			 2006-07 155.8 
			 2007-08 164.2 
			 2008-09 157.3 
			 2009-10 161.4 
			 2010-11 163.6 
			 2011-12 146.1 
			 2002-13 134.3 
		
	
	Information on the cost of transferring Category A prisoners between establishments is not collected centrally and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.

Prisoners: Suicide

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidences of (a) suicide, (b) attempted suicide and (c) self-harming there were in prisons in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: All deaths in prison custody are subject to a coroner's inquest and it is for the coroner to determine the cause of death. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) classification system does not include suicide as this requires knowledge of intent, which is not always known. Within the NOMS classification system, suicides are included in self-inflicted deaths, which also includes deaths where the prisoner took their own life irrespective of intent.
	The number of apparent self-inflicted deaths for the last five years is provided in Table 1.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of apparent self-inflicted deaths in prison custody, England and Wales, 2008-12 
			  Number of apparent self-inflicted deaths 
			 2008 61 
			 2009 61 
			 2010 58 
			 2011 57 
			 2012 60 
		
	
	An attempted suicide will be recorded as a self-harm incident. As it is not always possible to know the intent of the person to attempt to take their own life the number of attempted suicides in prison is not available.
	The number of self-harm incidents between 2008 and 2012 is provided in Table 2. These will be higher than the number of individuals self-harming in prison custody as some individuals may self-harm more than once.
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of self-harm incidents in prison establishments, England and Wales, 2008-2012 
			  Number of self-harm incidents 
			 2008 25,234 
			 2009 24,184 
			 2010 26,979 
			 2011 24,648 
			 2012 23,158 
		
	
	Statistics on deaths, assaults and self-harm in prison custody are published quarterly in the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody
	The latest publication with figures up to 2012 was published on 25 April 2013.

Prisoners: Suicide

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many incidents of (a) suicide, (b) attempted suicide and (c) self-harming occurred within the first (i) week, (ii) fortnight or (iii) month of arrival into a prison in the last year for which figures are available.

Jeremy Wright: All deaths in prison custody are subject to a coroner's inquest and it is for the coroner to determine the cause of death. The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) classification system does not include suicide as this requires knowledge of intent, which is not always known. Within the NOMS classification system, suicides are included in self-inflicted deaths, which also includes deaths where the prisoner took their own life irrespective of intent.
	Figures for the number of apparent self-inflicted deaths by time in the prison at the time of death in 2012 are provided in Table 1.
	
		
			 Table 1: Number of apparent self-inflicted deaths by time in most recent prison, England and Wales, 2012 
			 Time in most recent prison  
			 0 to 7 days 10 
			 8 to 14 days 5 
			 15 to 30 days 3 
		
	
	(a) An attempted suicide will be recorded as a self-harm incident. As it is not always possible to know the intent of the person to attempt to take their own life the number of attempted suicides in prison is not available.
	(b) The number of self-harm incidents by time in current prison for 2012 is provided in table 2. These figures do not represent the number of individuals as individuals may be responsible for more than one self-harm incident.
	
		
			 Table 2: Number of self-harm incidents by time in current prison, England and Wales, 2012 
			 Time in current prison  
			 0 to 7 days 115 
			 8 to 14 days 835 
			 15 to 30 days 1,378 
		
	
	Statistics on deaths, assaults and self-harm in prison custody are published quarterly in the Safety in Custody statistics bulletin available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/safety-in-custody
	The latest publication with figures up to 2012 was published on 25 April 2013.

Prisons: Electronic Equipment

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of prison inmates have access to (a) television, (b) games consoles and (c) newspaper subscriptions.

Jeremy Wright: NOMS does not hold information on the proportion of prisoners who have access to television, games consoles or newspaper subscriptions. To obtain the information would involve contacting each prison and this would incur disproportionate cost.
	On 30 April 2013, we announced changes to the incentives and earned privileges (IEP) scheme, under which prisoners earn access to privileges, including TV, games consoles and newspapers. The changes, which will come into effect from 1 November 2013, will ensure that prisoners will now have to actively contribute to their own rehabilitation, help others and continue to behave well to earn privileges. Prisoners who refuse to work or engage in their own rehabilitation will not earn privileges. The revised IEP system will support what this Government are seeking to achieve in improving rehabilitation and reducing reoffending.
	Under the current IEP scheme, in-cell television is available to prisoners at the standard and enhanced levels of the scheme. In addition, television can be provided in other circumstances, such as within health care facilities or for those at risk of self-harm if judged to be appropriate. In both public and private sector prisons, in-cell television is entirely self-financing; the money comes from payments made by prisoners.
	In the adult estate, access to games consoles is restricted to prisoners who are on the enhanced level of the IEP scheme. Each prison will have decided locally whether or not to offer access to games consoles as part of the local IEP scheme. All games consoles are purchased at prisoners’ own expense and no public funds must be used to purchase games consoles and equipment. 18-rated games are not permitted for any prisoner, no matter what their age is. Individual access to games consoles in the young people's estate is only available to those on the enhanced level of the rewards and sanctions scheme which operates in the same way as the IEP scheme in adult prisons. Young people may also access games consoles in communal areas. They are only permitted to purchase computer games and a games console for their own use and from a pre-determined list of approved consoles.
	Newspapers and periodicals may, at the discretion of each individual establishment, be purchased by prisoners through the use of local supplier agreements. Permitted publications should be comparable to those available to the general public, but must not compromise safety, security or decency.

Probation

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of the cost of introducing competition to probation services under his plans for transferring rehabilitation;
	(2)  what estimate his Department has made of the potential cost of moving probation cases from the Probation Trust to a private sector provider on an occasion when the assessed risk of particular cases changes.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice's “Transforming Rehabilitation: A Strategy for Reform” published on 9 May sets out the reforms for how offenders will be rehabilitated in the community. We are committed to opening up rehabilitative services to a range of new providers, who will be paid by results to help offenders turn their lives around.
	We anticipate that introducing competition to probation services will release efficiencies and drive down unit costs across the system. Our proposals are that the efficiencies released will enable us to extend the range of services provided. However, this will need to ensure our proposals will be affordable within the context of the MOJ commitment to deliver annual savings of over £2 billion by 2014-15.
	We have indicated that protecting the public is our top priority, and we are clear that management of the offenders who pose the highest risk of serious harm should remain with the public sector. It will then be for the public sector probation service to decide who manages that offender subsequently, but we do not anticipate large scale movement of offenders between providers, and so any associated costs would not be substantial.

Probation: Wiltshire

James Gray: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what assessment he has made of local initiatives for the provision of probation services including the formation of a staff spin-off mutual by Wiltshire Probation Trust.

Jeremy Wright: The Ministry of Justice's “Transforming Rehabilitation: A Strategy for Reform”; published on 9 May sets out the reforms for how offenders will be rehabilitated in the community. We are committed to opening up rehabilitative services to a range of new providers, who will be paid by results to help offenders turn their lives around. As a part of this we expect to see more use of innovative approaches, such as mentoring and signposting to services aimed at housing, training and employment, to tackle the root causes of offending.
	A number of Probation Trusts, including Wiltshire, have entered expressions of interest to gain support under the Cabinet Office's Mutuals Support Programme. The Secretary of State for Justice is not involved in that process as it would be improper, given mutuals set up by the staff of Probation Trusts may be bidders in the competition process to provide rehabilitative services.

Remand in Custody

Jenny Chapman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many defendants were remanded into custody in England and Wales in each month between January 2008 and April 2012.

Jeremy Wright: The tables show the number of prisoners received into prison on remand in England and Wales in each month from January 2008 to December 2012. The figures provided are a further breakdown of those published in Table 1.2 of the Offender Management Statistics Quarterly Bulletin available on the:
	www.gov.uk
	website.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
	
		
			 Remand receptions into prison establishments(1) by type of remand 2008-12 
			  Untried receptions, by month 2008-12, England and Wales 
			 Month 2008 2009 2010(2) 2011 2012 
			 January 4,879 4,454 — 4,408 4,264 
			 February 4,472 4,380 — 4,183 4,331 
			 March 4,512 4,790 — 4,615 4,436 
			 April 4,848 4,662 — 4,186 4,072 
			 May 4,830 4,592 — 4,691 4,262 
			 June 5,101 5,104 — 4,505 3,966 
			 July 5,437 5,056 — 4,552 4,486 
			 August 4,833 4,324 — 5,777 4,442 
		
	
	
		
			 September 5,068 4,967 — 4,712 4,112 
			 October 4,936 4,593 — 4,514 4,360 
			 November 4,620 4,597 — 4,515 4,047 
			 December 3,881 3,688 — 4,179 3,449 
			 All 57,417 55,207 — 54,837 50,227 
		
	
	
		
			  Convicted unsentenced receptions, 2008-2012, England and Wales 
			 Month 2008 2009 2010(2) 2011 2012 
			 January 3,886 3,295 — 2,990 3,047 
			 February 3,652 2,933 — 2,892 2,937 
			 March 3,323 3,181 — 3,284 3,286 
			 April 3,893 2,973 — 2,845 2,830 
			 May 3,647 2,820 — 3,248 3,259 
			 June 3,919 3,173 — 3,469 2,939 
			 July 4,092 3,077 — 3,281 3,295 
			 August 3,491 2,973 — 3,530 3,113 
			 September 3,909 3,428 — 3,604 2,997 
			 October 4,128 3,318 — 3,467 3,314 
			 November 3,686 3,146 — 3,607 3,103 
			 December 3,147 2,686 — 3,174 2,526 
			 All 44,773 37,003 — 39,391 36,646 
			 (1) Excludes police cells. (2) Data for 2010 are unavailable due to problems in the supply of data for statistical purposes—see Definitions and Measurements document for more details: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/192439/omsq-definitions.pdf Note: Untried and convicted unsentenced receptions cannot be combined to give total remand receptions as some individuals are counted under both types of remand reception.

Reoffenders

Sadiq Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many crimes were committed by those released from prison while on licence who were (a) low risk, (b) medium risk or (c) high risk in each of the last five years.

Jeremy Wright: The figures cannot be provided. The information held centrally on prison discharges (which is used to identify those released on licence) does not currently include an assessment of risk.

EDUCATION

Academies

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education with reference to the answer of 14 May 2013, Official Report, column 122W, on academy brokers, if he will publish anonymised details of (a) the nature of the two partially upheld complaints and (b) the grounds on which they were upheld.

Edward Timpson: With reference to the answer provided on 14 May, the two complaints against brokers that were partially upheld regarded matters of conduct constituting minor procedural infractions. In both cases the complainants fully accepted and were satisfied with the conclusions of investigations.
	Providing further information about the nature of the complaints, and the grounds on which they were partially upheld, would risk identifying individual cases and therefore jeopardise the confidentiality afforded to the complainant and subject, and be prejudicial to the effective conduct of public affairs.

Academies

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the potential effects of reclassifying academies as private sector bodies on accountability arrangements.

Edward Timpson: The Secretary of State keeps the accountability arrangements for schools and academies under review. The Department for Education has no plans to reclassify academies as private sector bodies. Strong accountability will be at the heart of any future plans for the academies programme.

Academies

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many multi-academy trust arrangements there are; and what proportion of academies are in such an arrangement.

Edward Timpson: There are 369 multi-academy trusts, within which there are 1,166 academies. This is 40% of the 2,924 open academies, and 5% of all state-funded schools.

Childminding

Kate Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  when he expects to consult on the creation of childminder agencies as described in the More Great Childcare policy document published by his Department in January 2013; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many childminder agencies as described in More Great Childcare have been established; and if he will make a statement;
	(3)  what estimate he has made of the number of childminder agencies as described in More Great Childcare: Raising quality and giving parents more choice which he expects will be established by September 2013.

Elizabeth Truss: The legislation to provide for the creation of childminder agencies is currently before Parliament, with the aim of enabling childminder agencies to operate from September 2014. No childminder agencies currently exist.
	We plan to consult later this year on the key requirements to be placed on agencies in regulations.

Children: Day Care

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what meetings he, Ministers and officials in his Department have had with representatives of the child care sector in each of the last 12 months.

Elizabeth Truss: As Minister responsible for education and child care, I meet representatives of the child care sector on a regular basis. A list of my meetings concerning child care issues since appointment in September 2012, is included in Table 1.
	Prior to my appointment the hon. Member for Brent Central (Sarah Teather), also met representatives of the child care sector in her capacity as Minister responsible for children and families. A list of her meetings is included in Table 2.
	In addition, Department for Education officials continue to have numerous meetings with representatives of the child care sector, as well as with others with an interest in early years and child care policy.
	
		
			 Table 1: Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Elizabeth Truss 
			 Date of meeting Name of external organisation 
			 2012  
			 1 October My Family Care 
			 2 November 4 Children Roundtable: Children's Corner day Nursery First Class Childcare Best Family Childcare & Out of School Club Ducklings at St Margarets Pre-School Greenside Pre-school Rounders Out of School Club Ducklings Childcare Twinkles Nursery Kaleidoscope Nurseries Bright Beginnings ChildCare Centre Leeds Play at Churwell North Leeds Community Nursery Guiseley Infants Twinkles Nursery x2 Childminders 
			 15 November Mumsnet 
			 28 November Save Our Nurseries and Montessori Schools Association 
			 29 November 4 Children 
			 18 December Action for Children 
			 19 December Childcare roundtable with providers: 4 Children Busy Bees London Early Years Foundation (LEYF) Bright Horizons Kids Unlimited National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) 
			   
			 2013  
			 10 January Busy Bees Benefits 
			 10 January Kids Unlimited 
			 15 January Representatives from Childcare Voucher Providers: Sodexo Motivation Solutions Computershare Voucher Services Grass Roots Group Edenred 
			 16 January Netmums 
			 17 January Barnes Montessori Nursery 
			 17 January Happy Child 
			 18 January Kids Unlimited 
			 18 January Mumsnet 
			 22 January Busy Bees Benefits 
			 23 January National Day Nurseries Association (NDNA) 
			 28 January Daycare Trust 
			 28 January Bright Horizons 
			 5 February Playaway Nursery 
			 5 February Kids Unlimited 
			 5 February National Day Nurseries Association.(NDNA) 
			 7 February Mumsnet webchat 
			 7 February Pre-School Learning Alliance (PSLA) 
			 12 February Women Like Us 
			 13 February 4 Children 
			 13 February Kids Unlimited 
			 14 February Childbase 
			 15 February Co-operative Childcare 
			 27 February National Children's Bureau (NCB) 
			 27 February The Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) 
			 4 March Childminders roundtable: X8 Childminders 
			 5 March Action For Children 
			 5 March National Childminding Association (NCMA) 
			 5 March Busy Bees Benefits 
			 6 March Daycare Trust 
		
	
	
		
			 7 March Roundtable discussion: Kids Unlimited Bright Horizons Montessori Schools Association 
			 11 March Toadhall Nursery 
			 13 March Roundtable with various nurseries: Busy Bees Bright Horizons Asquith Nurseries Kids Unlimited Childbase Bertram Nursery Group Tree Tops The Co-operative Childcare Kids 1st Day Nurseries Childcare Corporation Happy Days Nurseries 
			 18 March Busy Bees Benefits 
			 19 March Working Families 
			 20 March My Family Care 
			 1 May 4Kids 
			 8 May Cognita Schools 
		
	
	
		
			 Table 2: Minister of State, Sarah Teather MP 
			 Date of meeting Name of external Organisation 
			 2012  
			 16 May National Childminding Association (NCMA) 
			 21 May The Association of Directors of Children's Services (ADCS) 
			 30 May Early Years Provision Roundtable 
			 10 July 4 Children 
			 11 July Action for Children 
			 16 July Mumsnet 
			 31 July First Childcare Commission Roundtable: 4Children Bright Horizons Childminder ContinYou Daycare Trust DCS Family Matters Institute Fatherhood Institute Mumsnet National Childminding Association (NCMA) ARK Centre for Research in Early Childhood Single Parent Action Network Nursery Leader Working Families Women's Business Council (WBC) 
			 31 July Second Childcare Commission Roundtable: Office of the Children's Commissioner Save the Children Ginger Bread Family & Parenting Institute National Day Nurseries Association Pre-School Learning Alliance Netmums London Early Years Foundation (LEYF)

Free School Meals

Robert Halfon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many school students in (a) England and (b) Harlow constituency are eligible for free school meals.

David Laws: Information on the number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals in Harlow constituency, Essex local authority and England is shown in the table.
	Information on the number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals as at January 2012 is published in the Statistical First Release Schools, Pupils and their Characteristics, January 2012.(1)
	(1 )Available at:
	https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/schools-pupils-and-their-characteristics-january-2012
	
		
			 Maintained nursery, state-funded primary, state-funded secondary, special schools and pupil referral units(1, 2, 3, 4, )number and percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(5, )(6, 7, )January 2012, Harlow constituency, Essex local authority and England 
			  Maintained nursery and state-funded primary schools(1, 2) State-funded secondary schools(1, 3) Special schools(4) 
			  Number on roll(5, 6) Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(5, 6) Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals Number on roll(5, 6) Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(5, 6) Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals Number on roll(5, 6) Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(5, 6) Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals 
			 England 3,947,650 760,910 19.3 2,809,815 449,485 16.0 80,505 30,170 37.5 
			 Essex local authority 103,739 14,272 13.8 76,322 8,424 11.0 1,797 481 26.8 
			 Harlow constituency 7,648 1,393 18.2 4,800 755 15.7 52 16 30.8 
		
	
	
		
			  Pupil referral units Total(7) 
			  Number on roll(5, 6) Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(5, 6) Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals Number on roll(5, 6) Number of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals(5, 6) Percentage of pupils known to be eligible for and claiming free school meals 
			 England 13,235 4,855 36.7 6,851,205 1,245,420 18.2 
			 Essex local authority 234 43 18.4 182,090 23,220 12.8 
		
	
	
		
			 Harlow constituency 40 4 10.0 12,540 2,170 17.3 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes all primary academies, including free schools. (3) Includes city technology colleges and all secondary academies, including free schools. (4) Includes maintained special schools, special academies and non-maintained special schools, excludes general hospital schools. (5) Includes pupils who are sole or dual main registrations. Includes boarders. In pupil referral units includes pupils registered with other providers and further education colleges. (6 )Pupils who have full-time attendance and are aged 15 or under, or pupils who have part time attendance and are aged between 5 and 15. (7) Includes maintained nursery, state-funded primary, state-funded secondary, special schools, and pupil referral units. Excludes pupils in alternative provision as full and part-time status is not collected. Note: National and total numbers have been rounded to the nearest 5. Source: School Census.

ICT

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many (a) computers, (b) mobile telephones, (c) BlackBerrys and (d) other pieces of IT equipment were lost or stolen from his Department in (i) 2010-11, (ii) 2011-12 and (iii) 2012-13; and if he will make a statement.

Elizabeth Truss: Data for 2010-11 and 2011-12 were previously provided to the hon. Member on 9 January 2013, Official Report, column 342W. The following departmental IT equipment was reported as being lost or stolen in 2012-13:
	
		
			 2012-13 Lost Stolen Total 
			 Laptops 2 6 8 
			 BlackBerry devices 25 4 29 
			 Signify Tokens (remote access) 28 1 29 
			 USB Memory Sticks 5 0 5 
		
	
	Information about mobile phones is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.
	All Department for Education IT equipment is fully security encrypted. The replacement cost of laptops includes encryption software to allow the handling of sensitive material up to ‘Restricted’ and to meet the Code of Connection for the Government Secure Intranet.

Internet: Curriculum

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will make lessons on online safety and responsible use of social networking sites part of the national curriculum.

Elizabeth Truss: We recently consulted on proposals for the new national curriculum for computing. For the first time, this will require pupils aged five to 11 to be taught how to communicate safely and respectfully online, and to use technology responsibly, securely and safely. The final version of the new national curriculum will be published in the autumn and will be taught from September 2014.

Annual Leave

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education pursuant to the answer of 15 April 2013, Official Report, column 132W, on leave, how many staff on his Department's payroll were eligible for privilege days in 2012; and what the total payroll bill was in 2012.

Elizabeth Truss: The headcount of the Department as of December 2012 was 3,886. All staff on the Department's payroll qualify for one day's leave for the Queen's birthday and a further 1.5 days in addition to their annual leave entitlement and public holidays.
	The total paybill costs are currently being prepared for the end year accounts and have yet to be audited. However, the paybill costs for 2011-12 can be found on the Department's website(1).
	(1 )Department for Education consolidated annual report and accounts 2011-12:
	http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/hc1213/hc00/0042/0042.asp

Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what consideration he has given to introducing teaching about teratogenic medicines into the National Curriculum.

Elizabeth Truss: Our proposals for the new national curriculum were published for consultation on 7 February 2013 and the consultation closed on 16 April 2013. The proposed science national curriculum for key stage 3 includes content on the effects of drugs (including medicines as well as substance misuse) on behaviour, health and life processes such as conception, growth and development.
	We believe it is for teachers to decide the detail of what is taught within that framework, including which type of medicines should be covered. There is also scope to teach about teratogenic medicines as part of personal, social, health and economic education lessons.

Pupils: First Aid

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  how many school children have received training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation in (a) Feltham and Heston constituency, (b) Hounslow, (c) London and (d) England in the last five years;
	(2)  how many secondary schools in (a) Feltham and Heston constituency, (b) London and (c) England will be offering cardiopulmonary resuscitation training in 2013.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not collect data on training in cardiopulmonary resuscitation in schools.

Pupils: Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many times the word wellbeing occurred in school inspection guidelines in (a) 2010 and (b) 2013.

David Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. Her Majesty's chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.

Pupils: Health

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what recent changes he has made to the inspection criteria governing pupils' wellbeing at schools.

David Laws: This question is a matter for Ofsted. Her Majesty's chief inspector, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has written to the hon. Member, and a copy of his response has been placed in the House Libraries.

Pupils: Stress

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what assessment he has made of the effect of standardised testing on stress levels in school pupils.

Elizabeth Truss: The main purpose of national curriculum tests is to provide an accurate picture of children's attainment, so that they can be supported by their schools and teachers to achieve their best. There is no reason why young people cannot work hard, sit tests and enjoy their education. Good teachers in good schools will ensure that they achieve this.
	Teachers and parents can support children to prevent tests becoming stressful. The tests should not cause stress if they are approached and administered calmly and sensitively, and pupils understand that the results will be used to plan their future learning.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what processes his Department has put in place to (a) monitor, (b) collate cost information on, (c) review and (d) respond to requests to amend or revoke regulations introduced by his Department.

Elizabeth Truss: Since 1 January 2011, the Department has published a statement of new regulation every six months where there are regulations in scope. Each statement of new regulation sets out the costs of new regulations that have an impact on the business sector (private businesses and civil society organisations) and that are due to come into force in the relevant period.
	The Department regularly reviews regulation which relates to maintained schools with a view to simplifying or removing any unnecessary requirements. We have also established two stakeholder groups: the Bureaucracy Reference Group comprising teachers, school business managers and head teachers; and a sub-group of the Education Forum on reducing bureaucracy, which is made up of representatives from teacher unions and head teacher associations. These groups regularly meet to advise how existing bureaucracy can be reduced, and the most likely impact of new policies and legislation.
	The Department has also set up the following e-mail account:
	bureaucracy.views@education.gsi.gov.uk
	so that any practitioners or members of the public can provide views on further steps that could be taken to reduce burdens—including amending or removing regulations.

Regulation

Priti Patel: To ask the Secretary of State for Education 
	(1)  if he will provide the estimated cost of each regulation introduced by his Department since May 2010; and what the estimated benefits of each regulation (a) amended and (b) revoked were;
	(2)  what the title was of each set of regulations introduced by his Department in each month since May 2010; and which of those regulations have been (a) subject to the (i) one-in, one-out and (ii) one-in two-out procedure and (b) (i) revoked and (ii) amended.

Elizabeth Truss: Since 1 January 2011 the department has published a statement of new regulation every six months. Each statement of new regulation sets out the cost of new regulations that are due to come into force to private businesses and civil society organisations. Table 1 sets out the Department's regulations that have been included within these statements. Of the 13 regulations included on the Department's statements of new regulation, 11 have been net beneficial, and two have been broadly neutral.
	From 1 January 2011 to 31 December 2012, the Department reduced costs to the business sector by £11.11 million a year. From 1 January 2013 to 30 June 2013, the Department reduced costs to the business sector by a further £2.6 million a year.
	
		
			 Table 1: Compiled information from Department for Education statements of new regulation 
			 Title of regulation Date in-force ‘One-in, one-out’/’one-in, two-out’ classification Equivalent annual net cost to business (£ million) 
			 Education (Independent Educational Provision in England) (Provision of Information) Regulations 2010 January 2011 Out -0.07 
			 Child care (Inspections) (Amendment and Revocation) Regulations 2012 August 2012 Out -0.20 
			 Revised statutory guidance Free Early Years Education for Three- and Four-Year Olds September 2012 Out -0.50 
		
	
	
		
			 Early Years Foundation Stage (Learning and Development Requirements) (Amendment) Order 2012 September 2012 Out -10.00 
			 Early Years Foundation Stage (Welfare Requirements) Regulations 2012 September 2012 Out -0.30 
			 Childcare (Early Years Register) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 September 2012 Out -0.03 
			 Equality Act 2010 (Commencement No. 10) Order 2012 September 2012 Zero Net 0.00 
			 Childcare (General Childcare Register) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 September 2012 Out -0.00 
			 Early Years Foundation Stage (Exemptions from Learning and Development Requirements) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 October 2012 Out -0.01 
			 Education (Independent School Standards) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 January 2013 Out -0.29 
			 Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2012 January 2013 Zero Net 0.00 
			 Revised statutory guidance Working Together to Safeguard Children April 2013 Out -2.31 
			 Residential Family Centres (Amendment) Regulations 2013 April 2013 Out -0.00

Schools

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he is taking to promote maintained federations.

David Laws: The Department for Education supports schools working in partnership to improve standards. The new Governors' Handbook, published on 14 May 2013, provides governors with information about how to enter into a federation.

Schools

Stephen Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Education how many local authority maintained federations there are in England; and how many such federations are of (a) primary schools and (b) secondary schools.

David Laws: The Department does not hold a complete list of federations and their composition. Since September 2009 there has been a duty to inform the Department of the establishment of a formal or ‘hard’ federation made under section 24 of the Education Act 2002. However, this does not provide data on all federations since it includes neither federations established prior to September 2009 nor less formal federations that have been established under section 26 of the Act. In addition, there is no duty to inform the Department of the dissolution of a federation.

Sign Language

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will add British Sign Language to the list of prescribed languages of study at maintained schools.

Elizabeth Truss: While we recognise the importance of British Sign Language, the Government have no plans to add it to the list of languages that will meet the statutory requirement to teach a foreign language at key stage 2 from September 2014. We believe it is important that all pupils have the opportunity to learn one of the languages on the proposed list, for the reasons set out in the report of our consultation on this matter(1).
	Schools will remain free to offer British Sign Language in addition to one of the seven languages from the prescribed list, should they wish to do so.
	(1 )This is available at:
	www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/nationalcurriculum2014/a00221243/ks2-languages-consultation-report

Sign Language

Andrew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what steps he plans to take to ensure that there are no restrictions to allowing deaf and hearing impaired young people in maintained secondary schools to study British Sign Language at GCSE level.

Elizabeth Truss: The Department does not place restrictions on deaf and hearing impaired young people studying for a GCSE. We recognise that there is currently no GCSE qualification offered by examination bodies in British Sign Language (BSL) but there is a range of vocational-related BSL and other signing media qualifications up to degree level.
	The Department is aware that Signature is developing a GCSE qualification in BSL. It is in discussion with the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) to ensure that any GCSE is of the right quality and reflects the richness of BSL as a language.

Special Educational Needs

Paul Maynard: To ask the Secretary of State for Education if he will assess the report Future of AAC Services in England: A framework for equitable and effective commissioning.

Edward Timpson: The Government are taking account of the report, “The Future of AAC Services in England: A framework for equitable and effective commissioning”, in establishing arrangements for the commissioning of highly specialised alternative and augmentative communication services (ACC) by the National Health Service Commissioning Board. It provides useful recommendations for the AAC sector to consider when developing services in the future.

Teachers: Pay

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on how many occasions in 2013 (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) departmental officials have met representatives of teaching organisations and trade unions to discuss the 2013 School Teachers' Pay and Conditions document.

David Laws: Our records show the Secretary of State for Education, the right hon. Member for Surrey Heath (Michael Gove), has met representatives from trade unions on five separate occasions where teachers' pay—although not necessarily the 2013 School Teachers' Pay and Conditions document (STPCD)—was discussed. Ministers within the Department met trade union representatives on two occasions where teachers' pay was discussed. The Secretary of State and Ministers have met representatives from trade unions on numerous other occasions for general discussions, during which teachers' pay may have been raised.
	During 2013, as part of the consultation on the 2013 STPCD, officials from the Department met statutory consultees of the School Teachers Review Body (STRB), who include representatives of teaching organisations and trade unions, on nine occasions. Since publication of the document six meetings have been held with statutory consultees about implementation of the 2013 STPCD.

Teachers: Pensions

Dan Rogerson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education on how many occasions in 2013 (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) departmental officials have met representatives of teaching organisations and trade unions to discuss the teachers' pension scheme.

David Laws: In 2013 the Secretary of State has had one meeting with a union general secretary at which the teachers' pensions scheme (TPS) was discussed. A further five meetings with unions and teaching organisations have also taken place during this period where issues related to TPS may have been discussed but were not specifically tabled for discussion.
	I have met trade union representatives on five occasions, none specifically to discuss TPS.
	During this period officials have had a total of 13 meetings with trade unions at which the TPS was discussed. This has included seven meetings with union officials to discuss the detailed implementation of the reformed TPS.

Teachers: Termination of Employment

Stephen McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of teachers who have left their employment with between two and five years' experience in (a) 2010, (b) 2011, (c) 2012 and (d) 2013 to date.

David Laws: The number of teachers with between two and five years' experience who have left service from publicly funded schools in England in 2010 is 5,940. This figure includes teachers who are retiring and is estimated to exclude 10% to 20% of part-time teachers. The figure is provisional.
	The Department will publish updates to its teacher mobility statistics (covering 2011 and 2012) in July 2013. Figures for 2013 will not be available until 2014.